100 Years of Solitude Okay, Maybe Just 5
by LostWolfGirl
Summary: The twisted fairytale of Soledad Call and her young wolf Randy Littlesea.
1. Chapter 1

Title: 100 Years of Solitude… Okay, Maybe Just 5

Published: 10-14-09, Last Updated: 11-15-09

Chapters: 10, Words: 37,589

A/N: This is one of the last stories I wrote and it's also my favorite. Soledad Call is the daughter of original wolf pack member Embry and his wife (half vampire sister of Nahuel) Leticia. Her imprint is Randall Littlesea, son to OG wolf Collin Littlesea and his wife Helen. Like almost all my other stories it can be read on it's own but it works better if you have at least read one of the 3 original stories _Jared and the Sociopath He Imprinted On_ , _Enough With the Gravity Moving Already!_ or _The Pathetic Ramblings of a Homosexual Werewolf_.

Soledad means Solitude in Spanish. I wrote this series with the concept of 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez in mind. It is my favorite book and it is referenced both subtly and directly throughout the 10+ stories in this universe and the spin-off fictions written by other authors. _100 Years of Solitude_ is the tale of a town over a huge span of time told through the eyes of one family, and I attempted to do the same with this universe through the wolf pack.

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Chapter 1: Once Upon a Time

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Once upon a time in a far off place called Washington, there lived a boy, a sweet, loving, simple boy with simple dreams to be a horticulturist and sail the seas.

Randall Wentworth Littlesea, was known throughout the land, and by "the land" I mean the tiny Quileute reservation of La Push, as a fun loving soul; a tree enthusiast, a gentle giant and property of one Miss Soledad Call, better known as Soli.

Soli Call, daughter to the beautiful Leticia Call and her husband Embry was not what you would deem the average fairytale princess. While she was more beautiful than all the girls in the land, she lacked the essential characteristics of a storybook damsel. Unlike the weak and wanting princesses of old, she was tough, she was mean and she was not looking for a prince to sweep her off of her feet. She preferred hard rock, recreational drugs and casual sex and while most princesses donned gowns Soli was more likely to be found in leather.

You might be asking yourself, "what kind of fairytale is this?" So, beloved readers, I will warn, this is no fairytale at all. As all fairytales worth their salt do, it will have a villain and a

happy ending, but the beginning and middle… not so much. So I will start this fairytale, a weretale if you will, with a wedding.

Randy loves weddings, even if he has to sit through hours of boring stuff, he is always grateful for the feast of food afterwards, and the happy partygoers dancing the night away. Little known fact about our hero: he loves to dance and despite his large size does it quite well. At every wedding he's ever attended, after every morsel of food on his plate has been cleared, you can find him merrily cutting a rug with whoever he could find, though Soli was his favorite partner. For Randy this was the best wedding of all. It wasn't the dancing, he never got to that part, and it wasn't the food, though it was delicious. This wedding was much more than that.

He was happy for the pretty and elegant invitation that let him choose steak or chicken or fish, he was happy that the bride Amber was happy, but this wedding topped all others because he got to watch his Soledad front and center as a bridesmaid. She looked so beautiful in her soft blue dress. Soli was always beautiful but when she smiled like this, Randy couldn't help but smile with her, and if he was already smiling, which he was prone to do, he'd just smile wider.

"Traditionally, you look at the bride and groom at the wedding," Randy's mother Helen whispered with a smile.

"She looks nice."

That was all he could say.

Not because he didn't know what to say, if she were his very best friend Annabelle, he could say just about anything. His mother Helen was young and she was hip but she wasn't particularly fond of Soli. Besides he was explicitly forbidden by Soledad to compliment her in public in any way, and he took Soledad's demands seriously.

Sometimes, when Soli was feeling blue, she would ask him what he thought of her. He would tell her, only the good things of course, but then our little prince Randy has the unique ability to see only good in people, not just Soli but everyone, and as such he would be at a loss to point out her flaws.

Dazzling, funny, enchanting, intelligent, captivating, stunning, beautiful, gorgeous, belle, bonita. The list of adjectives he'd he'd collected to shower her with was long and whenever she felt down he could list them for her in a snap and make her smile… and he loved her smile.

At this wedding, the wedding of Soli's best friend Amber to a wolf named Solace, Soli didn't stop smiling, so he was utterly mesmerized. I tell you this because it's important to reiterate, he wasn't trying to hurt Phil… he wouldn't hurt anyone, or at least before the imprint he wouldn't.

At school, no one ever tries to hit young Randy. There were many reasons for this: one important reason being because, at the tender age of 12, he was already 5 foot 7. He dwarfed all other students and a few of his female teacher. Another equally important reason being that, because of his sunny disposition, Randy had captured the heart of every teacher and faculty member at his school, as well as the janitors and lunch ladies. Hitting Randy would be like a death sentence; an automatic visit to the principal and possibly a failing grade. Yet even if they had, even if there had been a student stupid enough to try and hurt Randy, he wouldn't hit them back.

So Randy wasn't trying to hurt Phil, honest, he just didn't want to see him touch her; caressing and swaying with _his_ Soli. He couldn't stand seeing her blush and flirt or laugh at his jokes. He's not even funny. And if you asked him, Randy would tell you, it's entirely Phil's fault that he is now a wolf. Randy's dad Collin blames the Cullen's, but Randy only blames Phil… Phil and his stupid hair and bright eyes.

He wasn't supposed to be a wolf, they all knew it was possible because his dad was and it was genetic, but everyone told him it just wouldn't happen. It couldn't happen, the current wolves were all retiring, and there wouldn't need to be a pack anymore. To become a wolf, you need more than just genetics, you need also age, rage and most importantly, vampires. Before that day, Randy have had none of those things.

Randy didn't really know if he wanted to be a wolf, he never thought about it because he wasn't supposed to be… especially not now. He was only twelve, the youngest wolf in pack history, and the only wolf to imprint just seconds after phasing for the first time.

Did you know that wolves can imprint while in wolf form? Well, now you do.


	2. Chapter 2

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Chapter 2: There Lived a Boy

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June 29th 2033 -January 1st 2034

 _Fairytales have formulas, specific paths to follow that make them predictable yet comforting, sweet tales to read to your children but I warn you this is not one of those fairytales, the kinds safe to tell to your precious little ones._

 _This story will not follow that path, no princesses will be saved by a long awaited kiss and no prince will charge any castles, shit there aren't any castles at all, there aren't any dragon and no witches, only a boy who loves a girl._

 _That boy, our precious Randy, was not having the best of nights. After he phased and imprinted, his world completely turned inside out, he was subjected to a family meeting. Like the Knights of the Round Table, the Call family and the Littlesea Clan met around the kitchen table of the Call abode. The two issues on the table, so to speak, were the impending departure of the Call family and the disastrous imprint._

Embry Call, long-lived wolf, and his beautiful wife, Leticia, the half-vampire love child, had resided together unaging in the scenic reservation of La Push for many years; it had not gone unnoticed. With immortals there was always a line for permanent inhabitance, the line between people remarking on how youthful you appeared, and noticing you looked exactly as you had ten years ago, Embry and Leticia had crossed it.

They hadn't announced their travels plans yet, because they knew if they left now, they would only be able to return to town undercover or after a lifetime had passed. They had, however, mapped their course, liquidated their assets, transferred their money to an offshore bank account and secretly sold their half of the family auto-shop back to Collin, who had helped Embry open it, though he was not a brilliant mechanic himself. The Calls planned to announce their world travels after Christmas, at least six months away but this imprint complicated matters. Being imprinted themselves, Embry and Leticia had no intention of taking their daughter away from her soulmate, but they had their hearts set on the open road.

Leticia was thrilled to return to her native land of Paraguay and share with her children her beginnings. Embry was pumped to see his best friend Jake again in Italy where Leticia's sister Giselle and her mate Lana had settled. Soli's younger brother Fredrico wanted to see the legendary town of Volterra, which he had been told tales of as a child, it was a dark place in wolf pack lore. Yet none of them were as excited about the journey as Soli, who yearned to leave the miniscule town on the coast and see anything new. In fact, it was Soli who put the idea of sailing into Randy's head, when they were young she used to show him atlases in the back of his mother's library and play games where he steered her throughout the world on his magical boat that could reach any land mass in under an hour.

From the day she was old enough to know what the globe meant, when she was finally able to contemplate the vast expanse of our great earth, Soli knew she was not destined for this town. She was too big, her mind too open for the confines of the La Push Prison. As soon her parents told her they would be free of the shackles of reservation life, she started to pack, not everything she owned but the important things. She thinned her closet and compressing her belongings to one large hiking bag. She would miss her friends and the pack, of course, but she could return unlike her parents because no one outside the pack really knew anything about her.

Soli had grown up hidden from the town for most of her life, not in a dungeon or a tower like other story princesses, not even a basement, but within the confines of her own comfortable home; though to Soli that had been just as bad as any dungeon. She was part vampire, which made her age rapidly after birth, and as such, until she was about eight, she was kept secret. It's not that she never left home, of course she left, but through every phase of her life she had been sheltered; different haircuts and styles to confuse towns people, escorted everywhere in car, home schooled by her mother, a long list of aliases, but when they left this dumpy reservation, she would be free, it would be Soli's time to shine.

With this imprint, though, plans might have to be changed, and Soli, still reeling from the idea that the Fates had chosen a child, a mere boy for her soulmate, was fuming. Soli does not cry, she does not get crushed or broken, so if you are looking for that, than you have come to the wrong place. No Soli hits. She screams, punches, and swears, this is just the type of potty-mouthed heroine you'll have to deal with.

"FUCK! This is— BULLSHIT! NO! This is just so…no! No, Mom! I'M MONTHS AWAY FROM BEING FULLY GROWN!" Soledad screamed, kicking the leg of the table. She was nine in human years, but as she wasn't entirely human, that didn't mean much. By Carlisle Cullen's estimations, she would reach full maturity within the year, the same as his great granddaughter, Elena, the only other love child of half vamp and a shapeshifter in existence.

Randy was older than her technically, but he hadn't been older than her physically for long. She doubled in age until she had caught up with him and Annabelle, then surpassed them both going from a miniature diva to a full on heavy metal goddess in two years.

"He's a wolf, that won't mean much for long… he'll grow rapidly," Embry said smiling at the boy. Of his daughter's possible suitors, Randy took the cake. Embry had never imagined in a million years they'd end up in this situation, but he was thrilled about it.

"He's twelve! Even if he looked 20 by tomorrow he'll still be 12! You guys can't possibly be discussing this seriously!" Soli howled before glaring at Randy in the most loving way possible...or at least, that's how Randy saw it. He had been accused of being blind when it came to Soli but that was not true, he saw everything about her, he just happened to be able to flash it all under a positive light, something her own mother was not able to do.

"Soli, por favor sientate, you're making me dizzy," Leticia urged, pointing at a chair but Soli didn't see it, busy making another rotation around the room.

"No, no, no! It doesn't count! He forced the imprint!" Soli screamed, pacing her kitchen and shooting disdainful glares in his direction in timed intervals, once when she reached the table where he was sitting, and another when she reached the door to the hallway where she turned to start the repetitive path again.

They were at a standstill, Soledad's parents and Randy's parents, sitting silently watching on as Soli huffed and ranted and protested her imprint. She was a fully grown part vampire no matter her actual earth years, and she had just been imprinted on by a twelve- year old, and not even a twelve-year old about to be thirteen, no, he was a solid twelve-year old.

"You can't force an imprint," Randy's father Collin sighed, rubbing his tired eyes. It was late, his happy baby boy had just exploded into a wolf and after three hours of trying to calm and comfort his boy, he had to deal with this.

He remembered the phase, the pain and confusion, he couldn't imagine what it would be like to phase and imprint in the same hour. Helen and Collin sat on either side of their Randy, touching every part of them they could reach.

See in the Littlesea home, Randy was their little miracle. Born premature, yet still thirteen pounds, Randy came into the world smiling. He was their only child, and would always be their only child because after a very dangerous pregnancy with Randy, his parents called it a day, spoiling his with everything they had. They gave Randy everything he ever asked for, though he did not ask for much other than the affection of Soledad, the only thing they could not give him, but he worked hard to achieve all on his own.

Randy sat still, clutching his gut and trying hard not to grimace, though he felt as if he was burning. The trouble with phasing at such a young age was that he hadn't actually finished with puberty, and now his body was speeding to catch up with the influx of hormones surging through his body. His last remaining baby tooth had knocked out painfully during his first phase, and the weird feelings and changes that were supposed to happen gradually, started to happen to the poor boy all at once. His voice and… other things dropped, his skin and bones burned from the forced growth, and he was ravenous, his body burning off all of its fat reserve.

He wanted to talk to her, to calm her, hug her and stop her from wearing away the soles of her shoes but he couldn't move.

"Are you okay?" Freddie asked leaning across the table to examine his friend. Freddie who also aged at nearly double speed was now about the same physical age at Randy, though they had been close friends for longer. Freddie was a sweet boy, calm and collected, mature and wise.

"Is he okay? Is he okay? He just imprinted on me, he's fucking peachy, aren't you? He got me just like he wanted! Just like he's always wanted!" Soli screamed but when she turned to see him looking green under the bright kitchen lights, her face soften.

She reached instinctively towards him, touching his head for signs of fever and pulling away when she remembered again that he would always be hot now. Helen pushed her way through, elbowing Soli out of the way as she came down on her son with an ice pack.

"You know Soli I think I've heard enough of your self centered bullshit for the night!" Randy's mother Helen, the sole librarian of La Push was not one to mince words nor was she afraid of the town wild child. She had experienced her fair share of rebellion, in fact Helen probably would have been Soli's best friend if they met at a different time but Soledad was crossing a line and she wasn't her favorite girl to begin with.

For years young Randy had made his adoration for Soli very clear, and at times it was hard for her and Collin to keep their low opinion of the girl to themselves. It wasn't the sex, drugs and rock and roll that bothered them, they were a family of rampant liberals. It was her blatant disrespect for their much adored Randy that did it and Helen just couldn't keep it in anymore. Embry growled, low and menacingly, standing between Soli and Helen defending her from another attack. Leticia stood with an air of royalty.

"Helen ju don't—"

"No, Letty. I love you but I'm done with this shit! We've stayed silent for too long. Soli you're a grown ass bitch, right? Then you can stand like a woman and hear what I have to say," Helen challenged the shocked young woman who was being completely covered by her father. No one in La Push ever talked to her that way, she was for all intents and purposes a bitch, but no one within the pack had ever pointed out the obvious and called her one.

"Mom," Randy tried to stand and defend his Soli, but he was burning up, a fever that made him feel like he could soon burst in flame.

"Soledad, you don't want this imprint then fine. I'm tired of letting my son follow you like a lost dog, he deserves so much better than a spiteful little bitch."

His imprint, this rotating realignment that changed the course of his life had happened in super slow motion, but the battle of the strong willed mothers afterward happened so fast, Randy wasn't even sure if he saw it right. One second his mother was turning red in anger, the next second Leticia was slapping her and then somehow after that Soledad ended up between them, keeping them apart with little effort. She is not the weak princess of your mother's fairytales, Soli can start and end a bar fight with the ease of a pro but her eyes were pained for this one. This was a fight between two women she knew loved each other very much, a fight she caused.

"You're right, Helen. He deserves better and I wish him the best after I'm gone," Soli said quietly walking toward the staircase to her room, dragging her brother with her.

"Come on," she urged him away from Collin who stood with his hands balled in shaking fist.

"Gone?" The first and only word Randy had energy for. He stood taking a few steps forward in the direction of his Soli.

"Jes, we were planning to leave La Push next year. We thought maybe we could stay but if ju think ju don't need us maybe ve will leave tomorrow," Leticia said coldly. Soli watched sadly as Randy almost collapsed, gripping on to the table for support.

Leaving.

They didn't give a timeline for their departure. There were some issues with the sale of their house that needed to be ironed out and many people Leticia and Embry were less excited to leave. So the lovely Miss Soledad spent most of her energy for the next four months packing and repacking her bags and avoiding Randy and any other conflict that might come from contact with him. It was hard.

It was harder than she would admit to anyone, even herself. She didn't love him, not the way she was supposed to but she had grown up with him. He had followed her wherever she went, and although she put up a big show of annoyance he was her rock. Other than Amber he was the most important thing in her life and now that Amber was married and gone she was alone. She had never been this alone before, it was scary and now, when she naturally wanted and needed Randy so much more, he was off limits.

Whenever they were close, she could feel him, like a bright ball of energy radiating and warming her to her very core. It was like nothing she ever felt before and at times she wanted to bask in it, to have him hug her as he used to before or maybe to simply place her head on his shoulder, but she knew she shouldn't.

Helen was right, he deserved better and whenever she thought of running to him, hugging him close or just asking him about his day Helen popped up in her thoughts. She didn't want any more conflicts with the wolf-girls, her mother was already having some much trouble with them that she thought it best to stay away from everything until their goodbye party. The fight forced her realize one thing though, the wolf-girls were like an exclusive club and not every girl in La Push was welcome, not even every imprint was welcome. They didn't like her, she wasn't one of them and she wouldn't try to be. When she left La Push it would be for good.

Soledad had always seen Helen as a kindred rebellious spirit, a mother figure even but now Soli was left bitter and with a sense of "why the hell not?" If everyone thought so little of her, even those she loved most, what did she have to lose? It was a dangerous place to be, especially without Randy or her best friend Amber to keep her in line.

So she partied every night, celebrating the setting sun until it rose again. She realized early it was easier to deny the pull of the imprint when she was drunk under the stars twenty miles away, or naked under a warm body. She hadn't slept in La Push for over a month, though she hadn't been doing much sleeping of any kind. She wasn't beating herself up about everyone hating her, that was life, she was just pulling away; saying goodbye to the town before they even left.

Halloween was her holiday though, and one morning, after a raunchy threesome under the stars on the roof of the community center she started to feel reckless. She wasn't going to let this imprint or the wolf-girls ruin it for her. After a long talk with Amber, still in full honeymoon mode with her new husband Solace, Soledad Call the supreme diva got dressed. She put on her best, her sexiest, her most 'Fuck You' appropriate clothes and arrived at the Ateara house where the Halloween festivities were being held, arm in arm with Rex, one of her two sleeping partners.

Rex was officially her boyfriend, her other carnal pleasure, Darla, was just fun. The kind of fun that both disturbed and delighted Randy in ways he couldn't describe. Rex was the first boyfriend, or well partner of any kind, that lasted Soli longer than a month, and as far as she could tell, she was in love with him. He was good to her without smothering her, he was attractive but not better looking than Soli (a pet peeve of hers), and he didn't talk. The stupidity of most guys was such a turn off she couldn't get past it, but Rex was smart enough at least to keep his mouth shut.

Soledad is many things, but stupid was not one of them. Her vampire side gave her the mental capacity to work through problems at a speed normal humans couldn't and being home schooled by her hundred-plus-year-old mother afforded her the luxury of learning multiple languages and skills from the harp to cutting hair. This was one of the other reasons Randy worked so hard, he knew her aversion to stupidity and he rushed to catch up to her spending all his free time at his mother's library.

Being twelve, well more correctly, being a twelve-year old werewolf eternally connected to a girl with an attractive older boyfriend, was hard. School was hard to pay attention to, sleep was difficult to capture and rampant thoughts of your intended filled pretty much every second of your day.

His mother tried to keep him busy, but he still thought of her, longed for her and here she was. She looked beautiful. Even wrapped around another man's arm, she was stunning. As soon as she was alone, he followed her.

"I miss you," Randy whispered in her ear leaning in from behind so that she was pinned to the kitchen counter where she lazily picked at a fruit plate. She was warmer than other humans, only a few degrees but it was noticeable now that he was a wolf and his body was pressed so closely to hers.

Her neck was exposed, her long curtain of hair off to one side of her bare shoulders so that he was free to sniff her intoxicating aroma. She smelled like raspberry and tea leaves and he hurt, his stomach burning from an overload of something he missed so much. She inhaled with him, leaning back into his body momentarily to enjoy his warmth. He automatically wrapped his arms around her waist, his nose tracing a line on her neck. She sighed, her heart pounding loudly in his ear. No night on the roof, no matter if there were two partners or ten, could compete with the heat and the static energy of his arms around her.

"Mmhm," she moaned as he placed one hot kiss on her collarbone. Her knees got a little weak but he held her close, making her feel safe and loved. She turned her head to the side offering him full access to her neck before she realized what she was doing and she bolted, squeaking loudly before she broke off and raced out the kitchen.

"Soli!" He had been strong, four months of being strong and denying this constant tugging in his chest but seeing her, being close to her again had broken him.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, slamming into Annabelle and Brady as she rushed out.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry," she repeated urging Rex out the door.

"I love you," Randy screamed. She didn't look back, she couldn't— she ran like a coward and didn't return, didn't allow him to see her again until the New Year.

On Christmas, he spent every cent he had on a present for her, a scarf set she wasn't there to receive. He came to her house everyday of the week after that, but she wouldn't answer. She couldn't take a present from him, she couldn't have anything to remind her of him when she left, and she would be leaving soon. Her parents didn't set a day but they had finally started packing as she had so many months ago.

Five seconds before the ball dropped on New Year's Eve, after a night of hard partying, including bottles of expensive champagnes, designer drugs she didn't even know the names of, and loud music she slipped into the back door of the Littlesea house. She hadn't planned it, and maybe she was too intoxicated to make the right decision right now but she had a strong desire to be where Randy was, and she found him celebrating with the rest of the pack and their families. He smelled her just before the crowd screamed "three" and he prayed that he wasn't imagining it.

She pulled him down the full one foot difference, her soft hands on either side of his face, letting out a soft puff of alcohol laced air against his lips before pressing hers slowly and softly on his. He cried. For months all he thought of, all he dreamt of was a second of time with her, he didn't even dare to imagine a kiss and now here it was.

She pulled his thick bottom lip between hers as the crowd rang in the New Year and he poked his tongue out wondering if she tasted anything like the raspberries that permeated her scent no matter the shampoo she used, perfume she sprayed or the alcohol she consumed. She did.

"Happy New Year, Randy," she breathed.

"Happy…" Randy sighed. She giggled a sweet ringing sound before slipping back out the door she had left open, leaving him staring after her.


	3. Chapter 3

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Chapter 3: Who Loved a Girl

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January 2nd - June 30th 2034

 _You know why there aren't any fairytales about hard-rock hellions getting kissed and turning into princesses? Because it doesn't happen. I bet some of you were hoping that their little kiss would have been the beginning of a cute love story, a nice simple anecdote to tell your friends, but one drunken kiss does not a tame, loving princess make._

I last left you with a kiss and I know what some of you are thinking, you're thinking an adult should not be kissing a 12 year old. It's wrong, creepy even, but Soli didn't see it that way, or not entirely—yes she knew it was wrong but she didn't feel bad for kissing him.

She had worked it out, hours of pondering to come up with this: being a werewolf makes you mature physically (though not mentally) so she wasn't doing anything disgusting, just distasteful. He was at least eighteen now physically, so it wasn't _that_ weird. She was kissing his lips not his brain, and it was just a drunk holiday thing not a big deal. Secretly though, very deep, deep down, so deep down she couldn't even understand the nagging, she hoped that every holiday to follow would have one of those kisses, but alas it was not meant to be.

Valentine's Day was an epic disappointment for Soli, it wasn't one of her favorite holidays as it was but the whole night she couldn't help but feel like something was missing. She ended up spending it with her increasingly boring boyfriend Rex, as she did Martin Luther King Day and Presidents' Day, all Randy kissless holidays.

She didn't actively seek the kiss because that would mean she was giving in and she would not give in, but she expected Randy as her imprint to put in the extra effort like imprinters of the past, he hadn't. It was a bit of a hit to her self-confidence, but after the kiss he was left dazed, confused and flustered and since she hadn't returned for more he blamed the alcohol for her rash behavior.

He was trying to take the cool approach, taught to him by and older wolf named Solace. He instructed Randy, being the very essence of cool himself, that some women, women like Soli, didn't want to be wooed or followed. Some girls preferred a boy out of reach. So Randy made himself scarce, which wasn't hard because she was avoiding him anyways.

When his birthday came around again he was thinking about changing his strategy but his mother Helen already was a step ahead of him.

"You want _my_ band to play at Randy's 13th birthday party? Venom?" Soli asked flatly watching Helen as she stood erect and severe-looking in her doorway in a black dress suit reminiscent of Jackie O.

"Yes, he has multiple copies of your CD, so I'm guessing he likes it," Helen said curtly.

It was early, extremely early on the Monday before his Friday birthday party; a block party-like event for the much beloved, world class smiler of La Push.

"He only has multiple copies because he's the only one who bought them and he felt bad," Soli said stretching widely and rubbing out the built up gunk on the corner of her eye.

"We'll pay you… and we'll buy all of your CDs and put them in the goody bags or something," Helen said quickly, pulling out a fat white envelope from her small black clutch.

"No, no… I um… I can't. And you can have the CDs they're in a box in the garage," Soli said through a loud yawn, urging the envelope back in Helen's hand.

"Please Soledad, do it for Randy," Helen insisted pushing the envelope back towards her.

"No, I mean I don't want your money," Soli said dismissively waving her in the house as she walked towards the kitchen. She was the only Call in the house. Her parents and Freddie had already left for the auto shop where Leticia taught Freddie in the back room while her husband Embry worked. Soli was done with formal education and on Wednesday's she even taught Freddie, instructing him on advanced chemistry, something she excelled in.

"What?"

"We'll do it, the guys like Randy anyways," Soli shouted into the fridge where she was searching for food.

"Orange juice?" Soli offered, Helen watched her as she went about her business, silently evaluating the girl that might one day be her daughter-in-law.

She was beautiful, even in the early hours of the morning, hungover with leftover makeup smeared on her face and wild unkempt hair, she was beautiful, but then beauty meant little in Helen's book.

She was smart, Helen knew this from the massive pile of books she could check out, read, dissect, discuss and return in a week, but common sense always trumped smarts in Helen's book and Soli seemed to have none.

"No, thank you," Helen answered taking a seat in the kitchen she hadn't sat in for almost a year.

"How's your mother? Are your travel plans going well?"

"She's good, having a hard time thinning her closet. She's never lived in one place for so long and she's accumulated too many belonging," Soli said through a mouthful of cereal, she was educated but she wasn't the classiest of broads.

"I would imagine that could be difficult," Helen sighed, trying not to stare as she devoured her breakfast.

"I don't know when we're going, soon I'm sure. You'll be free of me in no time," Soli said quickly, answering the heavy question in the room.

"I didn't—"

"Naw I get it, you're his mom. I wouldn't want my kid around someone like me either, bad influence," Soli said reaching for her stash of cigarettes in the cookie jar. She had a stash in every room of the house just in case.

Soli lit her cigarette on the stove and sat back down across from Helen. At times like this, when she was smiling, Helen was reminded so strongly of her teenage delf, it was hard to be mad at her.

"I just want him to be happy," Helen said quickly grabbing a cigarette out of the packet she left on the table and lighting it on the cigarette she swiped out of Soli's hand.

"Me too, he'll be much happier when I'm gone and he can forget all about this," Soli answered grabbing her cigarette back, a morning cigarette is a vital part of the day.

"Maybe… but how do you think you'll handle that?" Helen asked honestly. Helen knew herself the power of the imprint, one day she was on her way to become a dominatrix in Vancouver, the next she was living in a tiny shared apartment with Collin and a pack of strange werewolves on an Indian reservation in Washington. That's the power of the imprint.

"Fine, of course, I'll be seeing the world," she scoffed putting out her beloved Newport menthol cigarette.

"You kissed him," Helen said bluntly, everyone at the party had seen it.

"Drunk mistake, won't happen again," she said, holding her hands up in what would be considered an apology in Soli's world.

"You'll miss him," Helen said smugly.

"Probably, but that's not something a few hot Italians can't remedy… Look, we're not censoring our lyrics for a block party," Soli warned.

"I didn't expect you to," Helen said honestly.

"And I'll wear what I want," Solid added.

"And I'm sure it'll be a show stopper."

And it was.

Was it for Randy or Rex? Even Soli couldn't answer that but it didn't matter because every man within viewing distance was lost in Soli as she screamed, kicked and hopped around in tiny black shorts and a vinyl bra that barely covered the essentials.

When their last song was done, much to the pleasure of the neighborhood which had been subjected to over an hour of broken amps buzzing out harsh guitar riffs, Soli came off the makeshift stage to a group of waiting men. Randy was not among them.

In her life she could not remember a show, or performance of any kind, where Randy wasn't there cheering her on. She stomped off through the crowd looking for him, Rex at her heels.

"What the hell are you doing?" She screamed when she found him talking with a girl from the 8th grade named Amy. She was pretty, smart, nice and, most of all, she liked Randy even though he was a year younger than her at Quileute Tribal School.

"Oh cute, very fucking cute!" Soli screamed, giving Amy in her pink cardigan and heather grey skirt the once over.

"Are you—"

"Here? Yeah, I am!" Soli screamed, pushing Randy hard and hurting her hand in the process, though he did have to take a few steps back, which was impressive for a girl her size given he was now six foot and double her width.

"I'm here and not invisible, thanks for noticing!" She screamed as she pranced away, her hips in full sway.

Who did he think he was? It was his birthday, yes, but didn't he realize she was his imprint, the center of his fucking world, what the fuck was wrong with him? She grabbed Rex when she reached him dragging him away.

"What the shit?" Rex screamed. You see, that, was the first step in the downfall of their year and a half long love affair, don't question Soledad.

"WHAT?" She spat spinning around to glare at him.

"Why are you screaming at Lil' Giant?" Rex asked confused.

"Soli!" Randy called, catching up. They had rushed through the large crowd and were already on the next block.

"Don't call me that!" She hated when he called her Soli, he said it all wrong with so much emotion that it confused her.

"Hey! It's his birthday be nice for once, God," Rex hissed.

"God what? What does God have to do with anything? Ugh, you're so annoying, go away, both of you," she said coolly turning to leave, he grabbed her. Bad idea. Bad, bad idea, Rex!

One, it was the second step towards the door in Soli's mind; and two, Randy, who had been desperate to see, touch and be with her like he knew Rex was, saw it as an attack and well, no one hurt Soli.

Randy flew at him, pulling his hand off of Soli's arm, and gripping it so tightly, Soli could hear the creaking strain of his bones.

"Randy!" She squealed swatting his hand like you would a puppy who pooped where he wasn't supposed to. When he didn't let go, she reared back a fist and he relented.

Rex who was recovered from shock of a tween attacking him and almost breaking his hand, filled with the kind of rage he left for the stage, pulling back a fist and striking him before Soli could stop it.

"Rex!" She hadn't seen this coming, she lifted her honey tanned leg topped with a combat boot and kicked him, pushing him far away from Randy, who stood dazed with a slightly uncomfortable nose that had been bleeding a second earlier.

When he recovered from the shock and Rex stood, they were both ready to roll, and Brady, who had strayed from the crowd trying to avoid a sexually charged teenager named Annabelle, was the first one on the scene. Brady pulled Randy away as he shook unnaturally. Randy was bigger than Brady, and heavier but Brady was strong and Soli helped.

They passed Collin and Helen as they went and when they saw blood on Randy's nose and Soli trying to calm her boyfriend Rex, it was all too clear to them what had happened.

"You ruin everything, you know that?" Helen said calmly throwing one last heated stare at Soli before she grabbed her son and marched away. If her heart wasn't surrounded by a thick cement wall to protect herself, Soli would have cried but she took the much more therapeutic route and beat the living hell out of Rex before calling it a night.

It was the first of many nights she would spend at home, her travel bag set by her bed contemplating life, loneliness and freedom. If imprinting was supposed to be like finding your other half, why did she still feel so alone? She wasn't like the other kids around her, it was the small differences, the paleness of her skin, her increased temperature, her speeded growth, her immortality but she never belonged here or anywhere. She hadn't found her place, instead she was locked to him like a balloon tied to his hand floating lifelessly. Had she lost her freewill when he imprinted on her and if so how would she get it back?

And as she contemplated this, Randy would sit on the other side of town, which in such a small town wasn't far, and think.

He would think of how he could fix her, she was obviously broken. He would think of how he could cherish the time they had left because he knew by listening she would be gone soon. And he would think about what his life would be like when she went away and he was left here feeling incomplete.

He dropped the Solace approach and for once, he went against his mother's rules, and wedged himself forcefully back in her life where he belonged. He did it slowly, first with a breakfast, sitting across the table from her as she read the world news with her cute purple cat-eye reading glasses.

Then, after about a week of sporadic visits, he broke the silence. He found her alone in the house, something that happened a lot now with her best friend Amber being so far away. She sat on the large blue couch of her living room, her choice of pajamas making it hard for him to sit close.

It was hard to pick a favorite part of her body, he really liked all of her, but her legs were the part he saw the most of.

Her neck… the beautiful lines and indents of her collarbone, he liked that too.

Her back, yeah, her back, which had a deep indent leading to her round bottom was nice too.

And her butt, yup that was definitely a favorite and when she wore shorts like that and the cusp of her cheeks peaked out like they were now he had a difficult time keeping his body from reacting to her.

"I like your haircut," he said quickly, he was focusing his eyes on her hair, the safest part for him to look at. She had chopped off her long black locks night before last, Rex did not approve. It was an asymmetrical bob that was long and pointy on one side, the other side short and curled in. He missed her long hair already, because it carried her scent so strongly but she still looked beautiful, she always did.

"Rex doesn't like it," she said dismissively, but he could see a hint of worry in her eyes.

"Why do you even bother with him," Randy asked, trying not to get to angry. He had expected or maybe just hoped that she would get rid of him after his birthday but it had been like two months and he was still around being the epic douche thorn in his side that he always was.

"You'll understand when you're older," she said condescendingly. He hated when she did that because he was older than her and he understood the world much better than anyone would know. He smiled a lot, he was generally happy—most people misinterpreted his smile for sweet naiveté but he was not a gullible boy. He knew about people, because who better to know and understand people then the one person who didn't ever lose his cool and could see every aspect from the sidelines?

"Do you love him?" He asked, he didn't look at her when he spoke, it was too close to the topic of their imprint which they had not talked about in the eleven months since it happened.

"Do you really want to talk about this?" She asked pulling her knees up to her chest.

"I love you," he said watching her closely as he said it. She didn't flinch like he feared and she didn't wrap him in her arms and plant another kiss on his lips like he dreamed. She sat entirely still, her head tilted and rested on her forearm.

"Randy," she pleaded closing her eyes and letting his smell, which she would describe as the beach after a rainy-night and candy corn, sweet and tempting, fill her. She didn't know it, not really, but part of her love for Halloween was based in that scent which she subconsciously associated with Randy.

"Soledad, always, I've always—"

"Don't," she begged, unfurling her legs and letting them rest across his lap. He ran his fingertips up the top of her legs starting from her toes and repositioned himself between her legs as he made the ascent past her knees which she spread wider to let him in.

"I love you," he insisted, taking the initiative for the first time and pressing his lips to hers. She arched into him, giving his hands room to wedge themselves under her.

"We can't," she whispered into his mouth.

"Why?" He pushed the envelope farther, slipping his hand down to massage the exposed skin at the bottom on her shorts.

"Please," she begged. He wasn't sure from the desire in her voice and the lust in her eyes if she was begging him to stop or for more. She pressed herself harder into his hand and the top of his fingers slipped easily under her tight shorts. His hot hands against her soft skin woke her and she growled, using all of her strength to push him off.

"We're leaving after the fourth of July," she said emotionlessly.

"Oh." Less than a month away.

"So just—don't do that again…please," she called back politely, and how could he deny her when she asked him like that? He couldn't.


	4. Chapter 4

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Chapter 4: A Wild Girl

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July 1st 2034- January 1st 2035

 _In some fairytales time is meaningless. Princesses can be held captive for hundreds of years in towers or dungeons waiting for some stupidly heroic Prince to battle with a dragon and save her. In others Princesses can sleep away decades without any repercussions, not even atrophy, but as I've said before this is not your mother's fairytale. Time has meaning, and for Soli and Randy, it meant the ticking of a timer pushing them near an end, when they hadn't even really started._

Soli took pity on Randy, as she called it, and like the days of yore gave him scheduled hours to be with her, giving him her undivided, albeit self-centered attention, the month before she left him.

On the weekdays she would wake up past noon, shower, dress seductively (to be nice to him, of course) and wait for Randy to make his way over after lunch. Sometimes he would come earlier, slipping through her window to lie with her before she was lucid enough to push him away. Leticia would let him in, she hoped secretly that this closeness would be enough to melt her daughter's cold heart, but every morning she woke up with him Soli just pretended like she hadn't, lighting a cigarette and going on with her day like usual.

Today, the first of July, just 4 days from when she was scheduled to leave, was one of those days. Two major reasons being, the calendar on Randy's desk filled with red Xs kept him awake the whole night, calculating the distance between Washington and Paraguay, her first stop on the world tour. The second reason, the biological one, being that her smell called to him. It screamed to him from the other side of town, sending desire so strong, he was having a hard time…calming himself. Cold showers did nothing!

He hopped out of bed at 5 a.m. and dressed, pacing his room for two hours before his father came up to see what was wrong. She was in heat, like animals in the wild, 'cept for humans it was called ovulation and it was killing him. He hadn't picked up the smell before, Helen's theory being that he hadn't been mature enough for mating and now he was.

Randy didn't sit through the whole explanation, he knew enough about the birds and the bees to get what they were telling him, the only thing that he could think about now was Soli. About holding, kissing, loving, being with Soli in anyway she would let him. It was eight in the morning by the time he got there, she had left her house at one last night, so it was more than likely she would still be sleeping and he was going to cherish that time as much as possible.

The door to her house was unlocked, and Freddie who was physically about 15 now, sat lazily in the living room, reading the newspaper. He was a handsome boy, with features almost identical to his father except for his hazel green eyes which were so like Leticia's. Normally Randy, who really liked Freddie, would have sat and talked to him but today Soli trumped all.

"I wouldn't go in there if I were you," Freddie warned but it was too late. Randy opened the door without a knock and found Darla; it was better than Rex, but not by much. There was music, grating and violent music playing muffled in the background, Soli's sweet laugh going along with it as Darla danced naked, completely naked save a gold necklace, on top of her bed.

Most boys would have appreciated the scene, hell Freddie who stood in the background sure did, but Randy was terrified. He had spent many nights thinking of what exactly Soli did with Darla. He knew that they were intimate, he smelled as much, but not once had he imagined this. He'd did some research on lesbian sex, just googling the word gave him hours of entertainment, but he was still far from understanding it completely. He was not against the idea, not at all, his parents raised him to be open minded about all forms of alternative lifestyles, it was just Soli doing it that bothered him.

She was petite, a compact redhead with coppery red pubes to match and a healthy splattering on freckles on her womanly body. Freddie was in heaven, peering over Randy's broad shoulders to get a better view, but Randy only saw Soli. She was having a blast, big noise cancelling headphones over her ears providing the heavy metal soundtrack for her laughter as she watched Darla, cheering her on and throwing one dollar bills on the mattress from the corner of the room where she sat curled up on the floor. Soli was dressed in the same leather skirt from the night before, the black fishnet top with a purple bra underneath, her hair was wild, half up/half down and glossy.

"Freddie! Handsome, come in!" Darla screamed with an inebriated lisp. Soli, whose headphones allowed only little sound, turned, rushing to the door to lock him out before she saw Randy.

"Randy," she gasped, scrambling to grab a shirt for Darla.

"Who's this?" Darla asked in her high ringing voice. She hopped off the bed and onto Randy, he'd never been this close to a naked women in his life. It was not as exciting as he would have imagined. Soli slammed the door behind him, shutting out her gawking brother before prying Darla off of him.

She was not ready for this, a mix of tequila and Ecstasy was making her simultaneously lethargic and floaty. She hadn't expected him here till about noon, she would never let him see this part of her life. It was her, it was the real her, but she liked to believe he saw her as more, as better than that. She also hoped he could take a nap with her, wrapping this thick arm around her waist and snoring comfortingly against the skin of her neck; she had been looking forward to it even.

"Clothes," Soli spat throwing her a long shirt that once belonged to her father. It was thin and white and on days she let him snuggle with her, Randy liked to imagine the thin material was the only thing between them.

"Where's your dad?" Randy asked still in shock. Embry was the only person that had any sort of control of Soli, who was notoriously a student of the "I Do What I Want" Academy. Darla put the shirt on, it was so worn it was almost transparent but it was better than nothing, it made both Randy and Soli more comfortable. Soli had seen her naked many times and she had planned to thoroughly enjoy her nakedness once her favorite song finished, but Randy's presence changed things. It was a well known fact that she was not good enough for him, but he didn't need to see it firsthand.

"He's with mom buying plane tickets in Port Angeles," Freddie called from the other side of the door. He had been listening on the other side, curious to see how Soli would react to Randy crashing her private strip show.

"Vete a la casa de Kim a desayunar y no vuelvas mas!" Soli screamed. She had asked him to go to Kim's for breakfast and not to come back and Freddie obeyed, because well he had a crush on Kim's daughter Miss Annabelle and wanted to see her anyways. Annabelle didn't like him back, not really, but he wasn't giving up just yet.

"You were hiding this one," Darla purred, curling herself around one of Randy's thick arms.

"He's just a baby, leave him alone," Soli sighed trying to pull her away, but the exerted energy made her weak and she dropped down on the bed.

The sheets felt good, cool and soft against her skin, and she tried to keep her attention on the situation at hand but the drugs were pulling her to the music she could still hear floating from her headphones and the sensation of the sheets against her skin. She wondered what it would feel like to have his big soft hands against her skin again, and the memory of his fingertips under her shorts made her squirm, squeezing her legs together at the thought.

"What's wrong?" He asked rushing to her side. He carefully removed her strappy high heels, rubbing her red feet. She had walked with Darla a very long way from the cliffs in heels that weren't meant for walking, but she had been too drunk at the time to feel the blisters that formed in the process. She was part vamp so they were all but healed now, though they remained red.

"Nothing's wrong Randy, you should just—you should go. I'll spend all night with you, promise," she said weakly, rubbing the cotton of her sheets to her neck, imagining his lips there again as they had been on Halloween.

"You're sick, you feel so hot and you're sweating," he said leaning down to brush away the perspiration at her hairline. She moaned rolling into his hand and in the process her skirt rose higher on her hips giving him a full view of her lacy purple boy cut undies; he was transfixed.

The combination of her powerful scent, her scantily clad body, the sexual frustration that had been building in the months leading up to this, her sexy underwear, and the way she needed him, weak and in need for once; it was strong. He had always wanted to keep her safe, he would have easily taken a life for Soli's but she never needed even a shoulder to cry on.

"I'm not sick Randy, I'm high. You shouldn't be around us right now. Just give me a few hours to sleep it off," she pleaded, diving under the covers face first and giving him a full view of her barely covered ass; Darla slid in after her.

"He doesn't look like a baby," Darla said, pulling up the covers and urging him under. Randy didn't budge, but when he saw Soli roll over, her arousal wafting from under the sheets he whined. He needed to get out but he couldn't bring himself to go, and when she was rolled over, flat on her back her skirt ridden so high it now looked like a belt he dove in. He told himself not to, but he couldn't help it. He laid between them on his side, his back to Darla, who pulled him down, climbing on top of him, grinding herself hard into his erection. He clamped his eyes shut, she smelled like Soli, the whole room felt like Soli.

"He's thirteen," Soli warned, pushing Darla but she stayed on top, leaning down to kiss him.

Soli's smell, the soft feel of a warm body on top of him, he couldn't stop himself, he kissed her back. And unlike Soli, she didn't stop him. She didn't keep his tongue from sliding past her lips, she didn't slap his hands away when they roamed. But she also didn't moan or sigh and most of all he didn't feel it, the locking sensation of knowing you were in the right place doing what you were supposed to be doing. Just as Randy came to his sense , weakly pushing Darla away, Soli kicked her off, sending Darla flying off the bed with a wail.

"He's 13 and mine so back the fuck off," Soli screamed. She had never called him hers, he was, but she never acknowledged it before.

"Soli, this is exactly why Rex wants to break up with you, you think you're such hot shit! There are so many pretty girls in the world, you ain't nothing special!" Darla screamed running into the bathroom. Randy had dashed out of the bed in the meantime, scared of what Soli would say or do to him now. Her eyes were on fire, scarier than he had ever seen before. Darla reemerged from the bathroom dressed and pissed.

"And I'm taking these with me!" Her last words as she pulled out a sandwich bag filled with little blue pills and exited.

"I'm so sorry," Randy started but she beat him to it.

"Are you okay?"

"What?" They said in unison and with this crushing fear free from his shoulders he came forward, her skin looked older, dry and brittle.

"Soli, you look terrible," he whispered and she cried.

In his life, and he didn't remember much of it before her, he had never seen her cry but she did. She rolled over, pulled her pillow in close and sobbed. He had wished before, stupidly, that she would be weak, that she would have a moment when he could be there for her, but now that she was, it burned, crushing him into a pile of ash.

His mother never cried either, he had no real experience to go on so he went into the bathroom filled her cup with water and came back with a roll of tissue under his arm; she cried harder. He urged the tissue and water into her hands and she took them weakly. She begged herself to stop but she couldn't, she was too inebriated to think or do anything logically.

Soli gulped down the water, loudly blowing her nose a few times before she stopped, placed them on the nightstand and pulled him down onto the bed with her. He went willingly, smoothing her hair out as she tried her hardest to get as close to him as possible, she was cold. She was cold and stupid and he was warm, beautiful and he loved her. Other than her small family and Amber he was the only person in the world that cared even a little bit about her.

"I'm cold, Randy," she whined, throwing her leg over him and pressing her warm center to his leg and although he was horny, dying to touch her, he didn't get the hint. He dashed out of bed and scrounged through her luggage until he found warm sweats, and ushered her into the bathroom. He ran the shower hot, then got scared it would burn her and made it cool, then got scared she'd be colder and made it warmer, all while Soli watched.

"I'm going to make it cool then you can make it hotter when you get in, it's better cold then burned my mom always says," he said nervously as she went to remove her shirt, he could see her in the mirror but was afraid to turn around lest he attack her with a torrent of kisses and take her into the shower himself. It would be wrong, not because he was young, he didn't think about his age when it came to Soli, but she was on drugs and every after school special drilled it firmly into his head that that was rape.

"Randy," Soli whispered, her hand traveling up his arm. It made him burn, he made the water cooler still, imagining her naked body under the deluge.

"Soledad," he whispered, trying hard to breathe through his mouth.

"Undress me," she demanded, pulling his arm to turn him back to her. He stared at her, eyes blinking hard, the steam from the shower was rising. She was only wearing three things from what he could see: a purple bra, a black mini and those lacy little underwear, it wouldn't take long but it seemed like the world's heaviest task.

"I can't," he panted as she put his hands along the brim on her bra. He could, he could easily rip it off of her and fuck her hard against the sink but he wouldn't.

"What do you want Darla to come back and finish that off for you then," she hissed, looking down at his erection. He blushed moving to cover it and she howled, pushing him out the door and locking it behind her.

It seemed that even her imprint, the one person that was supposed to love you, had to love you because magic made them, wasn't all that thrilled about her. She cried some more in the shower, he heard it but there was nothing he could do but wait and feel like shit. She came out like her normal self, though clad in fuzzy looking pink sweats.

"I need to repack, so I can't hang out with you today," she said breezing into the room as if nothing had happened.

"Why do you do this to yourself?" He asked, he couldn't help but ask. He had wondered for years, since his mother first explained where Soli went and what she did at night. It was a bad year for him when Soli outgrew him and disappeared from his side, they used to spend every day together before that.

"What do you want from me, Randy?"

"Nothing… I don't—I don't know what you mean," he admitted, taking another step back as she approached. He wasn't sure how strong he could be with her smelling so good and being this close; it was hard enough without the smell.

"You don't want sex, do you want me to be a second mommy? Do you need a sweet and demure girl taking care of you, because that just not happening," she said standing inches from him, but not touching. She was close, close enough to kiss but she kept space between them, the heat of his body vibrating around her.

"I do want sex," he said, but backtracked quickly.

"I mean, you know… not today… I um, it'd be wrong… and I don't know how," he whispered breathing through his nose as she pressed herself against him.

"Okay, well 20 years from now when you're married with kids and I come to visit I guess we can try it out. It's the least I can do," she said turning and dropping on the bed, it was the last thing she said to him before she left.

She passed out and didn't revive till past 5, he was gone by then and he didn't come back as she requested. She packed everything. She would be leaving the next night and she was finally ready. She was a hundred percent sure now he'd be better off without her.

At the 4th of July/Call departure party, their last night together, they didn't speak. She would be leaving, there just weren't any more words. She didn't know how to apologize to him for everything she put him through, and she didn't know how to wish him the best with the rest of his life. He didn't have any strength left to tell her how much he would miss her, how much he would love her no matter where she went or what she did. All of the energy he had was reserved to keeping himself from breaking, from begging her to stay. He knew she wanted to see the world and that would make her happy but he also knew once she left she wouldn't come back, there was nothing here for her.

Helen and Leticia made up before they departed. They would not likely see each other again in this life, but they had spent a good decade like sisters and that was what mattered. Kim, Claire, Emily, Anna and Rachel, the rest of the wolf girls, were equally affected. Leticia had made an impact on their wolf girl circle and her exit was difficult to process. There was a new wolf-girl in the mix, Phil's imprint Tara, she was a dancer, a star ballerina in Miami before she got pregnant. Tara had two daughters and now taught at the dance studio where Claire's daughters Maddie and Harley took classes. She had not been in the circle very long but even she shed a tear at the thought of Leticia exiting the town she grew to love.

The men, especially Quil made a good show of being happy for him, but Embry had been one of the first members of the pack and it was a blow. Jared cried like the big softy that he was and Paul had to leave early before he broke down, they were brothers and the bond they shared was difficult to let go of.

Annabelle cried the entire night, she had been through too many goodbyes for a girl her age. While she was not a fan of Soli in any shape or form she would miss Freddie, more than she even realized till tonight. When he kissed her slowly under the soft moonlight, it was his goodbye to La Push and she didn't stop him, but again I digress into a different story entirely.

Soli said goodbye the only way she knew how, she didn't say anything at all. One second she was at the beach, the next she was not. When he looked for her she was nowhere in sight, and the next morning the scarf set that he had bought her for Christmas was gone and the left side of his bed was warm and smelled of her. He didn't allow his mother to wash the sheets for two months.

She didn't call once. Helen got weekly reports of their travels though and by Christmas when Quil, Claire and their trio of kids left to visit Jake, Nessie, Ethan, Elena, Embry, Leticia, Freddie and Soli in Italy, he didn't bother buying her a gift, she had forgotten him and he would try to forget her too…it's what she wanted.


	5. Chapter 5

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Chapter 5: That Drove Him Crazy

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January 2nd- June 30th 2035

 _His first official girlfriend was named Amy. She was sweet like sugar, polite, loving, considerate, beautiful even, but she was no Soli. Amy was too small, too soft and she didn't fit like Soli did. The world around him went on: Randy graduated middle school, officially joined the pack and turned fourteen. Everyone continued as if she had never existed. Venom got a new lead singer a boy named Jack, Jordan and Mark got a third dog they named Call, Darla and Rex got caught courthouse hitched when she got pregnant, and the Call house was bought by Phil and his imprint Tara for their small family. Come to the end of June, almost a year since she left, a new love bloomed not for Randy, but his best friend Annabelle Cameron._

"You have to tell your mom I fell asleep here last night," Annie whispered sliding into Randy's window and onto his bed.

"What?" Randy rubbed his eyes trying to wipe away the images of Soli and dispel her strong smell which seemed to haunt him more and more lately. Every morning for the last week, like a jab in the stomach, her scent would linger.

"I slept at Brady's last night and if my dad finds out he'll kill him," Annabelle hissed going to Randy's cupboard and finding her pajamas. For years Annabelle and Randy, born only a few months apart, were close. They got along like salt and pepper, unlike Soli and Randy who never seemed to mesh, though Randy tried. In fact, if not for their two imprints, Randy and Annabelle would have been a cute and happy couple. They probably would have married, had beautiful children and lived happily ever after, but that's not how it worked out, that's not what fate had in the cards for them.

As it was, Annabelle's imprint Brady was a lucky man. There was no imprinted pair with such a devoted female partner, and like her siblings before her, she was beautiful. Yes, their love affair was a real, heartwarming, big wedding, sky opening, fireworks exploding, fairytale… unfortunately that's not the tale I'm telling.

Annie stripped down to her undies, throwing her clothes in the corner and slipping on her fuzzy PJs. They had been changing in front of each other for years. Now that they were both older, outsiders might see it as improper—but Annabelle was a Cameron and propriety meant little to her. She dove under the covers when she heard a stirring upstairs, making to pretend she was asleep.

"Spoon me, make it look real," Annie instructed pulling his arm around her.

"You smell like Brady," Randy breathed in her ear.

"Well, I slept in his bed with him, so I should," she said quickly turning to give him the warning glare.

"You had sex with him?" Randy hissed; she slapped him hard.

"No! Just sleeping and a bit of kissing… shut up before your dad comes!" Annie added as she heard footsteps leading to their door.

"Do you…miss him when he's not around?" Randy asked sadly and Annie, who adored Randy like her own brother, sighed.

"She's… well, she's a rancid cunt, but I know Soli loves you Randy. Everyone who knows you does… she'll come back," Annie assured him, turning completely over and snuggling into his chest. He was so warm, so like her Brady she felt safe, but Randy could feel the difference, she was no Soli. Nope she was too long, too thin, she just didn't fit.

"Soli, are you in there?" Helen called from the other side of the door.

"I'm coming in."

The mention of her name brought him to life. He flew out of the bed sending Annie flying. As you can imagine any mother who finds a 14-year old girl in her teenage sons' bed, Helen came to a few conclusions before she saw it was Annabelle, and then she came to a much more accurate assumption.

Every night for the last week, since Leticia called Helen and warned her that Soli had broken off on her own, Helen had been on red alert. Soli left her family in Volterra when her younger brother Freddie phased for the first time. Seeing another wolf affected her, she wanted to leave that life behind her completely, but even so, Leticia believed any day now Soli would arrive, drawn back here to Randy. Helen had been checking his room every night to see if she would come, so she knew that as of 3 a.m., Annabelle has not been in Randy's bed.

"Fun night with Brady?" Helen asked with a smirk.

"Helen, please, please, please don't tell my mom," Annabelle begged dropping to her knees in front of Helen, her fellow wolf-girl and beloved second mother.

"Are you on the Pill?" Helen asked in French. Helen was fluent in many languages, as a child, she moved around the world with her military family and while Annabelle was growing up, attached to Helen's hip, she taught her French; Randy never caught on, he's smart but not big on languages.

"No!"

"Annie!"

"We're not doing it," Annie pouted.

"Not yet…I won't tell her but you should," Helen said lifting the girl up from her knees by her skinny arms and trying to slip out the door without another word, it didn't work.

"Why'd you say 'Soli?'" Randy asked pulling on a pair of jeans over his boxers in a rush. He was broad and manly now, his body having matured too quickly. It took a hell of a lot of talking to convince the school they hadn't put him on some sort of steroids and even then Helen felt like she was the center of gossip among the other mothers in town.

"She's here?!" Randy screamed from his closet, where he found a black undershirt and forced it on. He had smelled her, it was really her, her smell, her real scent. He had been imagining and dreaming of it, it was really her.

"Randy, we don't know where she is. No one does!" Helen yelled back to him.

"What do you mean, no one does?" Annie said chasing after them.

"She came back for me!" Randy exploded with joy. Helen and Annie, two of Randy's biggest fans shared a look, the kind of look that clearly read 'he was better off without her' and 'oh fuck.'

"Hey Randy, ready for the beach?" Amy called merrily, entering from the kitchen. Randy sped past her leaving the girls staring after him in confusion.

Soli was with pack leader and family friends Mark and Jordan outside of Forks, she had been for four days. When she first left La Push stopping in Paraguay then making her way through the surrounding areas of Brazil, Bolivia and Uruguay, she was fine, or as fine as Soli ever was. It wasn't until Argentina that she started to miss him.

In Italy, France, Portugal, Spain, Germany, England and all of the European countries she was dragged to thereafter with Ethan and Elena, the newlyweds, she tried to enjoy the sites. She tried to cherish the way the Romance languages rolled off her tongue, and she attempted with everything she had to strike a lasting relationship with Elena and a now pregnant Nessie. There were others like her and she had a fresh slate, but there was Randy. Every turn she took he was there, this nagging guilt.

How could she live her eternity knowing she had left him without knowing he'd be okay? She needed to see him happy, living…loving. She made the right choice by leaving. It was a choice—her mother and father urged her to stay—but it was the right choice. She owed him one thing though and that was kindness. They wouldn't work, it had been obvious for years they were a disastrous idea as a couple but she wanted him to be happy. So she came back. She didn't come back to start a love affair as Nessie and Elena insisted, she just needed to know he could live happily and she needed… they needed, a real goodbye.

When she arrived on Mark and Jordan's doorstep, she lost her nerve. He was just miles away, she could smell his sweet candy corn and sea breeze scent but she couldn't bring herself to go talk to him. She knew just by his smell, that if she talked to him she would stay, if he made even the slightest indication he needed her in his life she would stay out of pure selfishness. She had to see him _obviously_ , but he just couldn't know about it.

So she simply snuck into his window and self-indulgently basked in him. He was bigger— huge— his long legs falling off the side of his bed. There wasn't much room for her, but she squeezed in, kissing him freely and selfishly enjoying Randy all to herself every morning before dawn broke the horizon. At times she had to stop herself from stripping down and waking him for passionate sex, he was, after all, just 14. Fourteen-years old and happy, she could tell by the pictures that lined his wall; him and Annie on the beach, him and a cute little girl holding hands.

She had her proof, he could and would live just fine without her but still she couldn't bring herself to leave, couldn't stop herself from sneaking in every morning just past four, and leaving before six; two hours of bliss.

Randy didn't have to track her for long, but in the time it took for him to run on foot the distance between La Push and the cabin where Mark and Jordan lived, the months of crushing pain, the anger and suppressed rage of her rejection caught up with him.

He'd tried hard to live on as the same Randy: the lunch lady-approved, teacher-loved, smiley-sweetheart Randy, but it was just a face—a comfortable face hiding the black hole that was left behind.

Soli smelled him approach, it was too late to run, and part of her didn't want to. He found her curled up in a ball on the couch, her hair now grown out, brushing against her bare shoulders. She unfurled when he saw him, her deep plum sundress falling down to cover her legs.

In an instant, he ripped her up from the couch by her arms, shoved her against the wall and dove in, kissing her as hard as he could, throwing in all the months of pain and misery he'd felt while she was away. She gently grabbed his ears, trying to push him away from her, usually that was enough, but he couldn't and wouldn't stop now.

"Randy," she sighed into his mouth struggling with his hands on her shoulders. He pulled back, but not far enough to allow her freedom to move.

"Stop Randy," she pleaded as he kissed along her neck making her curl involuntarily into him.

"You came back for me," Randy whispered kissing behind her ear, his favorite spot.

"I came back for Venom… I miss the music," she argued, slapping his hands, he didn't stop bringing them back to pin her to the stone wall.

"You came back for me," Randy insisted. His eyes were black, not the normally beautiful cloudy grey they were dilated and cold.

He was big, too big and restricting her oxygen.

"You're hurting me!" She screamed, the fear and not his crushing grip causing her to panic. She had an up on most men, she was stronger than most humans. But she didn't have that with Randy, he wasn't human.

Jordan came out of his room, where he had been snuggling with a sleeping Mark, trying not to listen to their interaction. Soli was close to the couple, she had always been. Leticia and Jordan had bonded during her pregnancy and Jordan, whose books Soli worshipped and quoted like holy text, was her mentor. For the first three years of her formal education, he was her English teacher, everything from grammar to journalism; she was his prize student and for the couple who could not have any children of their own, she was an apt substitute.

Jordan had him pinned against the wall and away from Soli before Mark even stirred from the bed, lazily coming to see what the commotion was. He could have guessed it was about Soli.

"Jordan!" Mark screamed removing Jordan's big hands from around Randy's neck, he had stopped struggling.

"You okay," Jordan asked Soli, examining her bruising arm. It had passed, that burning passionate need for her. This crazed irrational desire to have her, to claim and be with her, had seeped out of his pores and what was left was an empty bottle. An empty bottle, shook so thoroughly its' entire contents burst free. He'd hurt the only person he was supposed to love and protect forever.

He wasn't sure what he was capable of anymore—he wasn't even sure who he was now, he had lost himself when he became a wolf and imprinted.

"Come on Randy… let's go for a walk." Mark never thought he'd have to deal with a case of imprint domestic violence—especially not from Randy, so he wasn't sure what to do next. Soli cried.

It wasn't the purple bruises sprouting up on her arms, she'd dealt with worse, it wasn't fear, she was safe in Jordan's arms, it was sadness, sadness and regret for coming back and ruining her Randy. In the world there was no one sweeter and more purely good than her Randy and she had ruined that. She had suspected she might, there was a nagging voice in her head that told her she could, because she was tainted.

For years she thought it was her vampire blood that made her this way, cold and unkind—but after meeting Elena and seeing how sweet and loving she was, Soli knew it was just her. She just wasn't right…

She slinked to the guest room, where she curled into a ball and stayed for a week wallowing in self-loathing, her uncles keeping her safe. Randy didn't try to come back, he felt… well it's difficult to say how he felt because in truth he didn't know himself.

He broke up with Amy, it was a given, he shouldn't be trusted with someone he could hurt, and he would only see Annabelle if she were accompanied by Brady, which was not a problem seeing as they were pretty much a package deal now. Soli was leaving again, he knew it and he didn't try to stop her, she was staying till September when her brother was set to go to college in Ecuador. Her parents had tried to urged her to enroll with him but she hadn't, holding on to the notion that maybe when she got back to La Push everyone, mostly Randy, would have missed her so much they begged her to stay.

He wrote her a letter early and gave it to Mark, with instructions not to read it and to pass it on to her the day she left, but he couldn't wait. Mark was too kind to open it himself but he was dying to know what it said. He tried not to meddle too much, he had learned long ago to stay out of imprinters' business, but he loved Soli and wanted her to be happy, so, of course, he had to meddle one last time as passed it to her not long after Randy left.

 _Soledad._

 _I'm sorry. I wish I could change everything, like a time machine and undo all the bad stuff and make you better again, like when we were little. If you were a human ten year old I would be a good imprint. I would take you to the park and the beach and make sure you never got hurt and when you got older I would keep away all the bad boys who didn't deserve you. I wouldn't have let anyone hurt you…_

 _I failed and I'm sorry. All I want is for you to be happy, I hope you find it. I love you for the rest of forever._

 _Randy_

She read the letter three times before dropping it on the counter in front of Mark and jumping in Jordan's truck, speeding to La Push. She smelled Helen in the kitchen, so she bypassed her, heading straight for his bedroom window. She hopped inside like an expert, sliding into his bed where he was moping. He shot up, his heart racing as he made his way to the exact opposite side of the room.

"I want to go to the park," Soli whispered from his bed. Randy had spent too many nights imagining Soli in his bed, but not once did she whisper that. Usually she said something along the lines of 'I love you' or 'I want you,' never did she invite him to the park… once or twice she's invited him inside of her panties, but never the park.

"Now?" He asked shakily, pulling out a shirt from his closet and covering himself. He didn't feel comfortable being exposed in front of her now. He went around half-naked all the time, he had to because he was constantly running a fever, but he felt as if he didn't have the right to now.

"You know, I… I never went to the park when I was still physically a child. Papa made me my own _VIP_ playground in the basement, remember, I um… i had that swing and the slide so no one would see me. Mama said I was too beautiful, everyone would want to know all about me," Soli spoke into her knees, her eyes glued to the bed.

"You are, you always were," Randy said quickly, she didn't acknowledge it; she plowed on with her pitiable monologue.

"Then when—when I was about five, I caught up with you," Soli smiled, looking up at him for the first time through heavy lids.

"And you hated me, you never let me use your swing." Randy was young, but he was filled, filled with the most overwhelming sense of nostalgia. He took a step towards her. He couldn't stay away from her when she was this close.

"No one can hate you, Randy… you were my first friend. Sometimes I think you're my only friend…I want to go back to that. If we can I want to go back to when we were too little to think about imprints and sex. Please," she begged kneeling on the bed, pulling him from where he stood and dragging him down on the bed with her. He held her gently, making sure not to squish or press her too tightly—he would never hurt her again. He couldn't deny her, if she wanted him around he would be but he would treat her like glass always.

She rolled into him, nuzzling her face into his neck. She was petite but curvy, and she fit perfectly.


	6. Chapter 6

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Chapter 6: But Loved Him Just the Same

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July 1st- December 31st 2035

 _Have you ever gone back, years after you've outgrown something you did every day, like ride your bike to school or play on the playground? There's something almost indescribable about revisiting your youth, especially if you didn't have long to enjoy it the first time around. It was the most exciting time of Soli's short but jam-packed life: movie night, camping, sandcastle building and ice cream sundae indulging._

 _She didn't have to worry about the pack, most didn't even know she was back at first. She didn't have to worry about friends, she honestly didn't have any left in La Push. She didn't worry about boys or sex, she and Randy were just friends and they were comfortable that way, except for the rare moments when they got too close and the vibrating attraction between them made them want to get closer. Everyone who saw them knew they were in love, hell even Randy was starting to feel it, but they didn't want to complicate things._

 _The thing about revisiting your youth is that much like a holiday to the Bahamas, it's over much too soon, and before you know it, your back to the slums you started in._

Phil's imprint Tara was a beautiful woman, inside and out. She was half Chinese American and half African American with a body that made most women around her feel less than adequate. She knew little about Soli but as a twenty-six year old mother of two, she knew a little bit about missing out on your youth, so she was more than inclined to put out her hand for a fellow wolf-girl looking for a little innocent fun.

Tara herself was relatively new to La Push so she didn't have much in the way of friends. So when Randy, who was playing good imprint and trying to make more friends for Soledad, invited her over for Tuesday Night Movie Marathons, Tara jumped on the chance. She brought her two daughters, along with Mark and Jordan, and they would watch family friendly movies while Soli and Randy pushed the limits of friendly touching by snuggling close in whatever corner they could find.

Tara loved it, she liked having a place to bring her girls to socialize, especially since Mark and Jordan doted on the girls. Tara, who was once a professional dancer and no stranger to gay couples, embraced the idea of her girls seeing a loving gay relationship up close, she thought it was the best way to teach her children tolerance without stuffing it down their throats. She also enjoyed that on occasion, on very, very rare occasions, Soli would kiss Randy, soft simple kisses of the non-French variety, that made Randy's face light up with such joy it brightened Tara's day.

As a repayment Tara, who was a dance instructor of styles ranging from ballet to modern to contemporary, offered Soli free classes. Soli, whose education included everything from physics to ancient Middle Eastern history, knew nothing about dance. In fact, the most Soli knew about dancing was that the best way to get a drink at a bar was to shake her behind to whatever beat they were playing. She took Tara's offer, though, and enrolled in her Wednesday evening ballet class.

She was terrible at it, possibly atrocious, especially when compared to the other eight and ten-year olds in her class like Maddox Ateara and Tara's oldest daughter Chloe, both budding little dancer's who looked up to Tara like a goddess; Soli had fun nonetheless. She was adorable too, in her little pink leotard with black legwarmers, though she never got cold. And if it weren't for her slight height advantage, the excess eye makeup and the fact that she smoked cigarettes during break, you wouldn't be able to tell her apart from the other girls in her class; the bright joy in her eyes was identical.

Soli also got this look of joy every night in bed with Randy, it's not what you think, you dirty-minded readers; it's something much more innocent. Every night as a secret night time ritual, they read together. They would read anything they could find. Randy's mother the librarian had a home collection of mistreated books that could rival any home library around.

Whenever they needed something new to read, Soli would ride on his back as he silently crept through the house and into the study and one of them, usually Soli, who came up with the idea in the first place, would close her eyes and spin in a circle 12 times. Why 12 times, you ask? No one can be certain, but she would spin 12 times, pointer finger extended, Randy fidgeting ready to come in for the save if she fell and when she stopped her eyes still closed, he would guide her forward until she was touching the binding of their next selection.

Sometimes the selection was extremely technical or boring like tomes on consumer economics or the rituals of the ancient nomadic peoples of Polynesia, but they wouldn't redo the selection process, nope, they would have to just read faster. Soli was great at speed reading so with her feet tucked gently in his lap, warmed by his big hands, she would read it to him and together they would learn things very few people knew, many of which would stick with them forever.

Sometimes the selections magically catered to their interest, like a book Randy pointed to about punk rock music of the 80s or one Soli got about hybrid trees which Randy enjoyed immensely. Other times the book were hard to bear like a book on genocide that made Soli sniffle or a Harlequin romance about gypsies which, when read to her by Randy's velvet voice, made her squirm. She was enjoying not having to worry about appearance and sex and all of those things, but not having to worry about them didn't mean she didn't think about it. Randy was probably the hottest guy she'd ever known and being near him nonstop had the disadvantage of making her feel… in need, 24 hours a day.

Being with him did things to her, when he held her hand everything in her body tingled. When he kissed her cheek, her stomach churned. When he held her close at night, her mind wandered, more vividly then she knew possible and when he kissed her, truly kissed her, she felt alive.

She talked to Tara about it. They became close, Tara and Soli, not close in the same way she was with Randy but as close almost as she had been with Amber, who she wasn't as close to now that they didn't live in the same mile radius. Tara told her something she already knew. She was in love.

Tara wasn't much help past that, because well she didn't know much about their past so she couldn't see why Soli wouldn't just go for it, and she just couldn't bring herself to explain it all to her sweet new friend: she was ashamed. Nope, Tara wasn't privy to her past hell-raising or the hierarchy of the wolf pack, so Tara didn't really know that inviting Soli to one of the wolf-girl Sunday brunches would end in disaster.

Every Sunday since the death of Billy, Leticia, who was faced with the mortality of the women around her, created a day for the girls all to get together, young and old. These brunches continued in her mother's absence and Soli was the only imprint never to attend one, not since her own imprint at least.

Randy walked her over to Tara's house where the brunch was taking place, holding her hand gently as they went. They had been together for the last 12 hours and it was hard, almost impossible to let her go. They were friends, just friends, Soli made sure to point that out every day, but they were friends that slept in the same bed and held hands and sometimes kissed and were very much in love… so it was complicated to say the least.

"I'll, um, see you in a few hours?" Randy asked uncertainly when they got to the door. He could smell his mother nearby. They had taken the long way around when they walked here and Helen had arrived a few minutes before them.

"I think I'm going to go out tonight," she whispered nervously. They hadn't spent a night apart since they made up, but Amber's ex-Riley had contacted her a few days ago. At first she ignored it but there was something in her, she called it her 'darkness' and it was begging her to let loose.

"Out? With Tara? Um… can I come?" He didn't want to be without her for a whole day, he didn't think he could handle it.

"I'm going out with Amber's ex-boyfriend Riley," she sighed. She had made a pact to be honest with him this time, she couldn't lie but it hurt seeing his big puppy dog eyes.

"You—oh…wh-why? Are you two…okay, don't answer that," Randy shouted, he didn't want to shout it just came out that way and whenever he lost even the slightest bit of control, he backed away.

"No, we're not—dammit, Randy!" She was getting flustered, nervous by the way he put distance between them as if he were disgusted by her.

"Then why are you going out with him?" Randy asked sadly.

"Because…I have needs, Randy." God, she hated saying it. She was hoping they could just read between the lines, but he was making it hard.

"I can…I can do that too," Randy said firmly.

"We're friends, Randy and I don't want to ruin that." Soli wasn't being entirely truthful. Yes, she did have needs, needs that were intensified every night when the two of them cuddled close together on his tiny bed, but this was her way of ruining this for herself. She had famously ruined every relationship, friendship, bond or otherwise good thing in her life for herself for the last four years, sometimes consciously but mostly subconsciously. This was one of those instances. She was in love, for the first time in her life and she was doing her darndest to fuck it up before she could be hurt.

"What's going on?" Tara asked sweetly poking her head out the screen door to check on them, Helen directly behind her, giving Randy a chance to run.

"Why'd he run away like that?" Helen asked coolly as she walked past them, entering the living room where most the girls were gathered. Annabelle, Melody and Jessy, stood together in a corner the three youngest of the wolf-girls in attendance; they rolled their eyes as a collective unit.

"He's just a little upset about some stupid date, it's—not a big deal," Soli explained but Helen who had been waiting for Soli to ruin things again blew it out of proportion and well it was a domino effect.

"A date?" Helen said scathingly.

"Yeah, it's just a thing with Amber's ex-Riley, we're going out for drinks we—"

"Of course she's going after Amber's sloppy seconds," Annabelle hissed and Melody went to stop her before she continued but there were two things about Annabelle Cameron that were 100% undeniable: One, she was a fiercely loyal friend and for years she had seen Randy being ignored or mistreated by Soli, she hadn't forgotten. Two: Like her mother and sister before her, fiery would be a word most people used when describing her, unfortunately the latter was also true about Soli.

"Excuse me?" Soli asked rolling her neck for emphasis, it was the universal beginning of most bitch-fights.

"How about some Mimosas?" Tara asked nervously, looking to Helen for some help.

"You're famous for it. You don't know how to keep your hands to yourself, do you? I mean, Phil can attest to that, and Lord knows how many times you went for Taylor."

Privileged information. Annabelle was privy to quite a bit of Soli's dirty laundry, having been so close to both Taylor and Amber.

"Have you slept with Phil?" That was pretty much all Tara heard, she didn't really need to hear more.

"Yeah, but that was a long—"

"Please, please, please tell me she didn't do… that with Tay," Melody said flatly, though every molecule of her being was exploding, she would not incidentally feel that alive and passionate again until her first kiss with Taylor months later.

"Like my brother would go for _that_ ," Annabelle said pointing dismissively. In a battle of beauty, a "Pretty Off," if you will, Annabelle Cameron and Soledad Call were about evenly matched, something they were both aware of but it didn't stop Soledad from fuming.

Soli was trying to be better, she wanted to be honest and considerate, it seemed that just wasn't ever going to happen here. She was free to date, I mean if Randy chose to date another girl, no one would be upset, so why was there such a double standard for her?

"Annie, that's enough," Kim said sternly, entering the living room from the kitchen where she had been sitting with Rachel, Emily and Claire, trying to stay out of the fray.

"And Seth?" Jessy Uley asked about her imprint calmly, her hands wrapped securely over her developing pre-teen chest.

"Oh please, you and Annie don't have anything to worry about! I wouldn't give your pathetic imprints a second look!" Soli screamed, finally giving up and reverting to her persona, her time tested bullet proof mask of Soli: hard-ass, heavy metal bassist. And it was on!

Annabelle charged forward and Jessy followed after her as Anna, retired member of the pack, sprung to life and making to come between them but Annabelle flew over her, using her back as a launching point to reach Soli. Soledad was prepared.

You don't become a rock-star badass like Soli without a few bar brawls and catfights under your belt. Soli also wasn't entirely human and extremely hurt by the continual attack on her character, so when Annie reached her she was pinned in one second flat, banging her head against the floor by a handful of her long curly locks. Annabelle kicked her making to continue the fight but Helen lifted Soli up and off of Annabelle by the collar like she would a dog and just as mercilessly tossed her out.

Soli was used to being treated like a dog, a bitch rather, but this one burned. It burned because she hadn't done anything wrong really. She was an adult who wanted to meet friends for drinks, who once in the past had sex with an unimprinted member of the pack, but it just went to show that the girls would use anything to gang up against her. The worst part of it was that she wanted to be friends with Annabelle. She had always wanted to be friends with Annabelle, Jessy and Melody, who were like a special clique, but again she proved unworthy.

She didn't bother going to Randy's and explaining that somehow she had ruined the one friend she had made in almost four years, the one he had worked so hard to find for her. She ran at her top speed, which was generally pretty fast all the way back to Mark and Jordan's house where she collapsed in a sobbing heap in the shower. She stayed there for a good hour before dusting herself off, bringing out her vixen clothes from retirement and calling Riley five hours early. He would pick her up, now, because she said so, because he wanted her, because in his eyes she was worth it. He would bring friends and she would flirt, she would drive them crazy with little dances and heavy looks and by the end of the night, she would have her pick, because outside of La Push, she wasn't vermin, she was like bottled sex and it was time to embrace that.

Randy arrived on their doorstep before Riley did. She didn't want him here, she was much too embarrassed to explain why she had a bruise on her arm, or why his mother now hated her more. He watched from the doorway as she packed her clutch with cash, a cell phone and a string of condoms. She hadn't dressed like this for a long time and while the view was phenomenal to say the least, the idea of other men enjoying her in it burned.

"Are you okay?" He asked, his hands shaking from the shock. Condoms, he couldn't even get a real kiss from her and she was preparing herself for what looked like a gang-bang.

She was just his friend. He repeated that in his mind like a loop but it didn't make it any less difficult.

"Peachy and I'll be better once I get a drink and maybe something stronger in me," she said almost robotically. There was something very easy about this persona, she didn't have to collapse in his arms and admit how truly devastated she was about losing Tara's friendship. She didn't have to be ashamed about enjoying a night out on the town and fulfilling her needs, she was just expected to.

"Soli, Kim talked to Annabelle, she's going to come apologize tomorrow. I know it made you sad, but they just don't know you yet, if you give them time—"

"I should give them time? Time for what? To drag out every little detail of my past for the whole town to see? I fucked Phil, okay? And I tried to get Taylor… shit, Krys too. Now you know, this is me," she said simply.

"But it's not," he argued and she scoffed.

"It is, this is the only me anyone will ever see," she said pulling on a pair of heels, the kind that made her legs look so sexy but he knew were uncomfortable so he preferred she didn't wear.

"You're happier with me," he said bravely. He pulled her in slowly, his hands winding around her narrow waist, she bowed herself to him involuntarily. His warm hands on her back, their pelvises pressed together she moaned, a soft almost innocent moan that made him pant with desire.

"You could make me happier," she said seductively, hitching her leg up on his hip and guiding his hand to the exposed bit of thigh just centimeters away from her underwear. She pulled on his neck, urging him to lift her and he did, giving her the freedom to wrap her leg around him.

"Soli, you're upset," Randy tried to stay calm but his hands on her soft thighs, her warm breath against his cheek was distracting. They had built something really solid and if he kissed her now, if he took her back to the guestroom of Mark's cabin that she claimed as her own, he might ruin that.

"You want to fuck me, don't you?" She cooed, licking the periphery of his ear from lobe to cartilage. Oh God he did. He was scared of hurting her again, but other than her happiness, he wanted nothing more in life then to show her, physically, how much he loved her, how much he had always loved her.

"No, I want to make love to you," he whispered unsurely taking a step towards her room. She let go, sliding off of him with ease when she heard the car in the driveway.

Make love. Make love… she understood the concept but had never actually experienced it. It was a scary idea, to give yourself to someone as an expression of something meaningful other than just a means to meet a pleasurable end. To make love she would have to tell him she loved him.

She wanted to say it, not for the sex, but in the interest of being truly honest. She wanted to tell him that she loved him, she loved him more than she knew was humanly possible, that every night in his arms was better than any night that she ever had before—but it wouldn't come out, the Soli mask was glued on and it was difficult to take off.

"I…I can't," she whispered, opening the door and bolting towards Riley's car just as it pulled in the drive.


	7. Chapter 7

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Chapter 7: She Didn't Know How to Say It

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January 1st- June 29th 2036

 _The New Year is a time for new beginnings, new hopes, and new friends. It has traditionally signified a purging of bad habits and feelings. It was a time to stand up and change and to put the past behind you. For Soledad Call that was much easier said than done, and with La Push in a whirlwind, her problems were put on a backburner, because in La Push, the New Year, the year of 2036, meant a whole new round of wolves and the introduction of new enemies._

Randy was the first new wolf in the Washington pack since Taylor Cameron many years before; there was no need for more. Vampire activity had been pretty much minimal since the Great Renesmee War and during that time, the pack had been fully stocked with Solace, Jordan, Michael, Phil, Krys and Anna. All but Phil, Brady and Seth had retired from the original pack at this point. The six remaining wolves of Phil, Brady, Seth, Taylor, Mark and David barely even patrolled anymore as it had proved over the years to be a wasteful use of man hours. In fact, in all the years that Taylor had been a wolf, fifteen and counting, he had never killed more than a handful of vampires and beside the Cullens Randy had never even seen any.

The pack served as community watchmen now, aside from watching out for blood-suckers, whom were all too afraid of the legendary gang of shape-shifting brothers to come around anymore, they kept the peace. Outside of their considerably large circle, the community of La Push: Population 604, was possibly the safest in America. Drug dealers kept a wide berth after dealing with the wrath of Seth Clearwater, muggings and violent crimes had stayed at less than 0.1% for over a decade and husbands were terrified of even looking at their wives cross, after Taylor witnessed a case of domestic violence and terrorized a man without breaking a sweat. Yup, things were good, in their little magical land, and they had been for a while, though they wouldn't be for long.

In order for a man or woman, or as was most often the case, boy or girl, to phase into a wolf, they needed three things: relative physical maturity, an ancient blood connection to one Mr. Taha Aki and a smelly stone trigger aka a vampire in the immediate vicinity. Unbeknownst to the pack, even to this day, David, Ethan, Mark and Taylor were all triggered by a nomadic Swedish couple that stayed in nearby Hoquiam for a bit too long, feasting on young girls before growing weary and heading north to Canada.

Randy's wolf transformation was triggered by Carlisle Cullen and Jasper Hale's return to Washington to attend the wedding of Kim and Jared's oldest daughter, Amber Cameron. Freddie was triggered by the Denali's and other active vampires of the new vampire council while visiting Volterra, but no one was sure who or what made the three newest wolves burst out of their skin and they didn't bother to investigate.

One after another, in the order of their birth Levi, Devlin and Melody Varn, the young triplets of retired wolves Michael and Anna, all exploded into identical russet colored wolves, just months away from their 13th birthdays. The pack, which had become all too used to newbies, didn't question it like they should have. Only Soledad, who thought of vampires more readily than the pack, connected the dots, but as she was now in the mood for watching the pack burn, she didn't point it out. Soli the rebel was back.

Like a walking middle finger, she pranced around La Push and Port Angeles with a band of followers like a bona fide rockstar. She forcefully took back her position as bassist and lead singer of Venom, the band she formed. She brutally chopped off her hair as if to prove she didn't need her silky raven locks to attract men and, for the double threat of wanting to feel pain and to call more attention to her wherever she went, she pierced herself, jabbing the right side of her plump heart shaped pink lips with a thick safety pin, like the kind used years ago to shut cloth diapers.

Piercings of the facial variety had gone out of fashion in the early 2020s after a huge influx starting in the 1990s, but that didn't matter to her or those around her who watched as she grotesquely performed the ritual on stage at one of her first performances back. For her fans, mostly twenty-something year old men with repressed rage, the show combined two of their deepest desires: beautiful women and violence. The crowd erupted in a mosh pit as she stuck in the hoop, threw the pin to the ground and continue the song, her hands covered in blood that dripped down her arms and made her glisten hellishly under the lights. She was out of control.

After leaving with Riley that night, she didn't look back. Randy caved and tracked her down a few nights later, he found her curled in a naked ball in bed with a girl he could not identify. It was not the way Randy would have liked to have first seen her naked but with careful eyes, he clothed her, taking in every curve of her body for memory before hauling her back to the Mark and Jordan's cabin; she escaped again the following night.

She left every night and every night after his parents were safely asleep, he would go and retrieve her, sometimes from people's beds or backseats, sometimes from roofs or basements of public and private property. Sometimes she was passed out or sleeping, others she was awake, these were the hardest. If she were not drunk or intoxicated enough, she would make it difficult for him to bring her back, if she were very drunk she would come on to him, because drunk-Soli was a horny one and that was torture. She would grind her body against him, breathe his name in ways he had only ever dreamed of before and even worse, beg.

"I need you inside of me, please." She would pant and gyrate to the point that he was on the verge of tears, his hands shaking, but Randy was a good boy at heart and he wouldn't take advantage of her. He was no saint, but then, what fourteen-year old boy was? He let his eyes enjoy the honey cast perfection of her soft exposed breast but he would never allow himself to touch. He would let her rub herself against him, creating maddening friction but he would stop it, never allowing himself to burst. And every night, when she was finally settled in her bed, he would kiss her without permission; the soft sweet kisses she used to grant him before she gave up on trying to be good.

She did this for a month before Mark gave her an ultimatum. Jordan warned him not to, he believed over time she would grow tired of the wild life and crawl back to Randy where she belonged, but Mark was fed up with the girl. She had potential, endless potential and a man that loved her like a plant loves the sun, and she took it for granted; he couldn't bear it. The problem with that was that Soli didn't do ultimatums, so she left. She packed up her things and left. She didn't tell Randy, she just went.

She dropped her bags off on Riley's couch, where she assumed she would stay. She practiced for her show that night, did a sound check with the guys, and sauntered on stage, clothes pin in hand. She knew Randy was there, she could smell him over the sweating testosterone ridden men, but the lights were too bright to pinpoint where. As she pierced herself, blood oozing down her face, she smiled, the demonic smile that combined with the metallic burning smell of her blood made his stomach churn.

"Soli, what the hell are you doing?" He screamed rushing the stage, pushing his way through the crowd and aggravating a group of students who went to retaliate until he growled so ferociously they backed away as if he were a rabid beast.

She ignored his scream, kneeling on the floor the way a porn star would if she were impersonating a cat, arching her back and holding her bloody arm like a paw with a thorn in it. She looked him in the eye for one solid second before doing something that disgusted him too much to stay; embracing the vampire in her, she licked the majority of the blood off her arm, seductively clearing the offensive odor in the air. He had already left by the time she stood back up, ripped her bass off the amp where it was resting and continued the show.

On New Year's Eve, he skipped the pack festivities and was rewarded when she crawled into his window and directly into his bed. She slid out before his parents woke him up, leaving a small package by the window: a thick beautifully made, pop-up book of different trees from around the world, with a note in her tiny boxed scrawl.

 _I bought this for you before you imprinted on me, there was never a really good time for me to give it to you. Sorry._

He spent New Year's Day thinking of her, reading and rereading the blurbs on every page, out loud like he had when she would sleep in his bed. She spent New Year's alone.

Kim who worked as a social worker was the first to decide she needed to step in. For years she had kept silent because she didn't want to step on Leticia or Embry's toes when it came to parenting, but things had gotten beyond what she could handle. She was not a fan of the Solo, who led her daughter Amber through the wild underground scene of sex, drugs and partying, but things had worked out as they should and it was time to start anew. It took a village to raise a child, and Kim enlisted the help of her fellow wolf girls.

Emily and Rachel were the firsts and easiest to sway having had troublesome teens of their own. Anna and Tara were next. Anna was the kind of loving girl who did not judge, making her an easy sell, and Tara was similar. She got over the shock of her imprint having relations with Soli and put it behind her for the greater good. Claire and Annabelle were last and the hardest to convince. Claire had never liked Soli, they had personalities that clashed almost entirely. While Claire was airy and optimistic, Soli was dark, heavy and a pessimist.

There was only one quality she possessed that made her redeemable in Claire's eyes and that was Soli's love for her children, especially her daughter Harley, who at only 5 seemed to be suffering from the middle child syndrome. Try as Quil and Claire might to make Harley feel special, she always seemed to feel as though her little brother Addison, the only boy, and older sister Maddox, abandoned by her imprint, got all the attention. To top it off Harley missed her Soledad, who she called "Soul" for as far back as she could talk, and Claire could see the possible benefits of their friendship.

Annabelle was even less inclined to help Soledad, who she had traditionally quarreled with, but after watching Randy's drastic turn into depression without his Soli, she agreed, for his sake and for the sake of her sister Amber, who she knew loved the girl very much, to go along with her mother's plan.

The plan was simple, Annabelle would invite her over for a night with the younger imprints Melody and Jessy, they did this every month at least once and Soli had never been welcome. Kim would get good movies, and all of her favorite foods and they would all treat her just like one of the girls. Tara would come over later and invite her to hang out with herself and Claire, the second generation of wolf-girls. It was a slippery scale with Soli, who on one hand was young, while on the other hand was experienced and probably smarter than all of them combined. They couldn't treat her as they did Melody and Jessy, though she still lacked the maturity necessary to be an adult.

She was in need of parents and as hers were now gone, the four oldest wolf-mommas were taking her under their wing. Kim, Anna, Rachel and Emily had discussed the girl at length. Helen knew the most about her and she took part in the debate though she had no intention of participating in the plan. She knew Randy would end up with her, worthy or not. Helen knew she had no choice in the matter, but seeing her son's long face and hearing him cry over the girl had turned her cold. Nope, Helen could not join her sisters as they planned on taking Soli in like surrogate mothers.

They would first offer her the little apartment above Quil's shop which now lie vacant after Solace married Amber and left La Push. All of the older wolf girls, even Trisha Uley, who did not traditionally spend time with her peers, agreed to work on it for her. It had been vacant for a few years and before that it had been passed from wolf to wolf, so that now it was in desperate need of some loving. They would show her how much they cared about her by making her feel welcomed in their circle.

The plan might have worked, it might have been a fast, simple way to put her back on track and back into Randy's arms which they both clearly craved. But when the early morning hours of the New Year were marked by Levi, Devlin and Melody phasing, things got crazy. Anna was devastated that her babies, just barely teenagers, were being subjected to the same curse she had, especially since it did not cure Levi's as she had expected. She couldn't think about Soli, and she didn't even give a second thought to the fact that vampires must be somewhere close, her mind was consumed with Levi.

Levi was born almost entirely deaf, and over time, it was determined there was no solution for him. They had tried implants in both ears but neither worked. His body had actually physically rejected one of them, taking what little bit of hearing he had away with it. So he spent the first 12 years of his life in complete silence. I ask you not to be sad for the boy, for his life was far from pitiable. In fact, in his opinion those of us who hear were missing out. The "hearers" of the world missed so much of the beauty around them, he did not. While most children his age played video or computer games or listened to music and watched movies, Levi became one with nature.

It took him a while to become adjusted to being a wolf though, longer than wolves before him because he had no memory of sounds, so understanding thoughts, especially those who thought in monologues like Mark, was difficult to interpret. He was learning though, and as a big brother, he worried more about his siblings. Devlin was small, the runt of the litter and he had not grown as quickly and excessively as Levi and Melody had with the phase. And with Mel well, things, physical things were changing with Mel rather quickly, which was a bit disturbing for her older brother.

She grew breasts, not enormously large ones, but they were there and Taylor noticed them too. Melody loved sharing Taylor's thoughts but she was alone in that joy, because if sharing the thoughts of one imprinted wolf was not enough, sharing the collective mind of an imprinted couple was nauseating. Melody had imprinted on Taylor, a double imprint. She wasn't the first female wolf that was old news, but she was the first to imprint. For years people had been reevaluating and changing their minds on the purpose of an imprint, but with every theory, as it varied from person to person, the double imprint made sense. Because if she was his soul mate, his other half, the best genetic match to produce wolfy offspring, then he most obviously was hers as well, but it made for a pretty mushy scene. So much so, the triplets, the ones affected most by the ominous presence of vampires, didn't even think of the trigger.

Kim was preoccupied too, worried sick about the sudden development of a fever in Annabelle, waiting on her hand and foot with the hopes of keeping her so happy, she couldn't phase. She had two wolf sons already, and while she loved the pack, she didn't want it for her youngest girl. She didn't think about Soli, or her immediate safety, or even the fact that there must vampires nearby. Annabelle's fever turned out to be the common flu.

Trisha didn't look back at the paint swatches for Soli's living room, she thought only of how the new wolves would affect David's upcoming retirement. She had two little ones, the youngest, Sammy, just two-years old and still dealing with the side effects of a premature birth like breathing treatments, and she needed the security of David's retirement for her daughters. She hadn't spared even one second to the triggering vampires or how they could harm her or family.

Mark and Jordan didn't think about getting Soli enrolled in school or staging an intervention, they both worried collectively about how the new wolves would integrate with the pack considering the triplets were such a solid unit already. Jordan had momentarily, very momentarily thought on the cause for the new flood of wolves, but it was washed away with Melody's imprint.

Everyone was so caught up in the new wolves, the new double imprint and the news that Phil and Tara were getting married that they didn't hear about the death of Missus Otero, a quiet older woman on the other side of town. They didn't leave the confines of their little community long enough to hear about the string of runaways in Port Angeles or the missing newlywed in Forks and they didn't notice Soli slipping farther into her hole.

The pack and their families were in danger, bigger danger than they had been in for almost twenty years and they had no clue. There were seven of them, vampires, in a coven that rivaled almost all others, except for the Cullens, of course. They were a newly formed assemblage, a blend of ancient and contemporary vampires, brought together by their youngest but most powerful member, Jun. They had varying skill, wisdoms, strengths and weaknesses and Moon Jun Ki knew them all well. He was a Korean, a vampire made within the last century who had the unique ability to make people see reason, his reason, even if it weren't the most reasonable of reasons. In short, he could control a band of collected vampires long enough to plan and attempt to execute a mission.

The mission: to eliminate the La Push shape-shifters before taking over Volterra and ruling as the new vampire monarchy, piece of cake when they only had nine relatively untrained puppies on their hands.

See, while the pack was bustling around doing their thing, the coven was watching, taking notes, observing. Jun and his right hand woman Cassie were sneaky, sneaky enough to make their way into town unnoticed and even leave with a snack, though the old woman was riddled with medicines that made Cassie's stomach churn… serves her right for picking on a granny but I digress. Yes, they were smart vampires and through their observations they found three things of interest, one: most of the wolves, those that would have been fearsome competition were old and retired, what was left was a group of guys too big to be human but generally untrained. Two: most, if not all, were bound, connected in a seemingly unnatural way to a partner, an imprint. And three: 90% of the days they'd experienced here were sunlight free. They had been part of the nomadic lifestyle for a long time, which meant they had not strolled down the streets of a town during the day for a very long time. It felt nice, real nice, and they were starting to think maybe there was no need leave…maybe this place was just where they belonged.

They might have been wiped out, the pack could have been completely ripped apart, without even a second thought if it weren't for the Denali's. They had gotten wind of the up and coming coven's movement and they sent an envoy of vegetarian vampires. Kate, Garrett, Jasper, Alice, Emmett, Rosalie, Bella and Edward came down with Jake, putting the new coven on high alert. They backed away, this would be harder, the Cullens were fearsome competition, but they did not run. Yes, it would be harder, but they were sure it was not impossible.

Once word was out that there was a threat, that there was something out there that could hurt his Soli, Randy snapped. He was tired of giving her room, of allowing her to live her life and make her mistakes, he was taking charge for her own good.

"You're moving back in with Mark and Jordan or with me, Soli," Randy said seriously, it was a demand and not a request. She was hung over, passed out on Riley's couch where she had slept with Randy sitting vigil at her feet. He skipped his first night of training, he couldn't bear being away from her when there was danger. He would be in serious shit, he didn't care.

"What?" She sighed groggily rolling over, her tank top rising so that her flat belly was peaking out.

"Vampire's, a coven and they're dangerous, Soli. They're killing people. You can't keep doing this, I won't let you," he said firmly. He wasn't going to cave today, even though she was in heat and her smell was making him weak with desire, her safety came first and he was not going to bend when it came to her life.

"They're vampires everywhere, Randy," she scoffed lighting her morning cigarette.

"These vampires are here for us, to take out the pack. I can't have you out doing God knows what with them around," he hissed.

"Take out the pack?" She cried in disbelief and instinctively, she brought him close, nuzzling her face in his neck. The thought of someone trying to kill or harm her Randy in any way made her sick. When she thought of the trigger for the triplet's phase, she had been sure it was a single vampire or a pair, wandering aimlessly for food. She had not and did not want to think of an organized group with the sole purpose of taking her Randy out of the world. She kissed his cheek and he leaned into it. It had been two months since they were close like this, they both missed it, though only Randy would say it.

"I miss you," he said taking it a step forward and kissing along her neck. He didn't often make moves with her but this was the first time he'd seen her sober in a month and he was desperate to convince her to come back to La Push with him. It didn't hurt that her smell was like a bottled hard-on and she was sitting inches from him wearing very little clothing.

She crawled into his lap, she had been craving, dreaming, thinking of him constantly and today it was worse. She liked when he took charge with her. She would never admit it but she liked it when he told her what she had to do or when he made moves.

"Me too," she breathed as he made circles with the tips of his fingers on the exposed skin of her back, she arched sending her butt out seductively for him to grab, she knew he liked it.

"I need you to be safe, Soli," he added, kissing the spot behind her ear that made her toes curl.

"Me too," she panted. It was true, she couldn't lie to him when they were this close. If he were hurt, if he were gone, she wouldn't be able to survive, she knew that, but she wouldn't have admitted it if it weren't for his hands and lips on her like she'd been fantasizing about for weeks. She threw her head back listening to the loud thumping of her heart in her ear as he let his hand drop casually down her front, his big soft thumb grazing her hard sensitive nipple through the soft material of her undershirt.

"I care about you, so much, Soli," he spoke into her lips kissing her repeatedly, soft little kisses that reinforced an unquenched passion.

"Me too, Randy," she promised turning her body in his lap so that her knees were on either side of his thigh pushing him back against the couch.

"I want it all back, I want the nighttime books and the morning breath," he continued, kissing along her neck as she ground herself into his leg. She worked her hips, slowly rubbing herself up and down his leg shamelessly.

"Me too," she cried, breathing hard as the friction between her legs grew electrifying.

"I want you so bad, Randy."

He was about a month away from his fifteenth birthday, she'd calculated and recalculated, but she knew she would not be able to last another year without it, without joining her body with his. She originally planned to wait till he was sixteen but she wasn't strong enough.

"Me too," he sighed, flipping them over so that he was between her legs, his hardness pressed against her growing wetness.

"I love you," he sighed. Silence. She sat up, urging him up and to Riley's room which was empty for the day, Riley busy with work.

"I love you so much," he repeated waiting for her to say it, she didn't.

She closed the door behind them, lifting her shirt over her head and taking it clean off her body. He had seen her bare breast before, but they were never as beautiful as they were now when she exposed them especially for him. He let her take his shirt off, outlining his smooth chest slowly before pressing herself to him. They had never had this much bare skin touching before, it made him feel weak.

"Say it," he begged, lifting her up by her narrow waist and holding her flush against him at the full one foot height difference.

"Please," she panted, as his hand cupped her ass, curling to the front and pressing hard against her sensitive mound, she shuddered.

"No… say it, Soli," he demanded, pulling his head back so he was looking her in the eye as he curled and uncurled his fingers teasingly, adding pressure then taking it away.

"You know I do Randy, you have to." Her breathing was ragged as he used his middle finger to push the crouch of her shorts to the side. She stopped breathing, waiting for him to touch her. He ran his thumb along her slick folds once then stopped, placing her gently on Riley's bed. It smelled like him, a smell that made him angry because of how often he had smelled it on Soli, but he barely registered it now.

"Say it," he commanded before taking one of her cold, hard nipples in his mouth and warming it with his tongue. She thrashed against the bed, the tingling feeling of pre-orgasm magic building in every pore of her body.

"I can't," she whined as he kissed down her body, placing one hard kiss over her sensitive bundle. He sighed, pounding the bed with his fist before he rolled off of her.

"Then we can't," he breathed through his mouth so he could quell the burning desire. Being a wolf did this to him. It made him feel powerless, as if it were his job, his duty to take her, to flip her over and fuck her doggy style against another man's bed, to fill her with his seed and cover the bed with his scent.

After a long silent spell of heavy breathing she stood up, still half naked, removing the rest of her clothes and reaching into a bag by the bed. He watched her, as she slowly dressed, giving him a chance to change his mind, he didn't. When she was done getting dressed, bundling up warm she packed her things.

"Okay, let's go home," she said leaving a message on Riley's mirror in black eyeliner.

"Really?" He asked pulling the bags from her hands.

"Yeah," she sighed. "Kim gave me the keys to Solace's old place. I guess I can handle living alone," she said uncertainly.

"You won't be alone, you'll be in La Push with your family," he assured her warmly.

"Yeah… Randy?" She whispered, taking his hand and leaning flush against his side.

"Umhmm?"

"You know I do, right? You know that I…you know, feel that way about you," she asked looking up at him with her big almond shaped eyes. He dropped the bags in front of her car and looked at her. It was technically Mark's old car, but as he had a new one and hadn't used this one since Soli came back it was as good as hers.

He knew she did, he considered it to be the luckiest thing that ever happened to him, but he wasn't going to take the next step, he wasn't going to fully enjoy the perks of that love until she could say it. It sounded stupid but he wouldn't deserve it, not until she was fixed. His job as her imprint was to fix her, and until she could say those three words, she was still busted.


	8. Chapter 8

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Chapter 8: But She Knew How to Show It

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July 1st -December 31st 2036

 _In the real world, as well as in enchanted ones, routines can be extremely comforting in a time of uncertainty. Even a simple routine of a morning kiss, followed by Lucky Charms before your first cigarette of the day, or spinning twelve times before landing on Hamlet and reading Shakespeare with your beloved then snuggling up for bed could somehow make the world seem less terrifying, it made the villains, whether they be evil witches or ogres or, in this case, rogue vampires, seem that much further away. Routines though, no matter how sweet and innocent, can mask things like eminent danger or relationship uncertainties, but it's a just cover, like throwing your hand up to cover a gun pointed directly at your face._

Randy and Soli's routine for the last six months was a simple one. Every night they read till they were too exhausted to think of sex and fell asleep in each other's arms. Every morning, whatever time morning happened to be for them that day, and no matter what the state their breath might be in, they would kiss. That was the only kiss of the day so they always tried to make it count. Soli didn't want to complicate things more than they already were so one kiss was the unspoken rule.

Some mornings the kiss would be quick and sweet, others they would be urgent and heavy, leaving them panting and not entirely satisfied. Some mornings, like this morning, the morning of July the 11th—Claire Ateara's thirty-third birthday and the day of Annabelle Cameron's disappearance, and the start of the war— they would end up with their shirts discarded, their skin mashed together as their tongues flipped and turned like acrobats.

"You look so darned beautiful in the morning," he sighed, running his big warm hands down her back. He had ripped her shirt off in a fit of morning lust, she didn't argue, of all the people that had seen her naked Randy was the only one that looked at her the way he did…it was nice.

"It's the afternoon," she chuckled, pulling him closer so that his warm skin touched hers. It had been a long night for them. Randy had trained in combat with Jake and Jasper last night alongside his pack, it was nearly three by the time they were finished and after he'd practiced with her.

He insisted on training with her. He said it because he wanted to be extra-ready but really he just wanted her to be able to take care of herself, if he were not to return from the fight. When he was satisfied she'd be able to take out pretty much any human assailant, he carried her home on his back, and not wanting to break their routine, they did not forego the nightly book club, so that they read until the sun came up.

Soli was the only imprint to come and watch the training, she sat in the forest clearing with Alice whom she had become acquainted with during her travels in Europe and watched as Randy, Melody, Devlin and Levi were trained. Taylor, Mark, David, Seth and Brady also came, which they said it was a sign of solidarity but seeing as Seth had killed the most vampires among them and he was a known pacifist, Soli knew it was their macho way of trying to soak up everything Jake and Jasper knew.

She hated it, she didn't really know why she came but she did, she came every night, while they trained for a few hours and sometimes strategize. She hated it most when they did hand to hand combat, he was her bright eyed snuggle bear and it was torturous seeing him fight. He had to, she knew he did, and she understood this was necessary but she couldn't help but hiss anytime Jasper or Emmett actually managed to hit him.

Randy turned out to be a good fighter, he was big which made some wolves slow but not him, and if he weren't in danger, she might have found it hot even, but things were serious, too serious for her to play games and not spend every second of her day with him, worrying about how much longer she had with him.

She was right to worry, she was probably the only one worrying as much as was necessary because their opposition was expanding. Jun's crew of seven had grown to fifteen though not all of them were vampires. There were also two extremely dim-witted humans, his ability for persuasion worked better on those with less going on upstairs. The humans, both male and nameless as far as Jun was concerned, were quite handy as long as he could keep the rest of the coven from eating them. They had had a few mishaps with the first three Blood Bags, because as the coven grew Jun's ability to keep them in line was less potent.

His persuasive powers did not stem from the eyes, that was a common misconception most vampires got when they heard tale of his power. It was a feeling, a pulsating energy that surrounded him and seeped into the corners of your mind. He did not need to look into your eyes to control you—though he enjoyed watching those around him avoid eye contact—in fact it was not control at all, it was a bit more limited than that, though frightening all the same.

If he told you to kill yourself for example, and there was no part of you that was already considering it as an option, he would not be able to sway you. Jun amplified your inner most desires, thoughts, ideas and molded them to fit his will. As a human he was a salesman, a computer salesman in Seoul during a time when computers were still new and relatively useless when compared to what they are now. Nowadays computers play a vital part in our lives, like an extension of ourselves, but when personal computers were first introduced to the consumer market, their biggest functions were computation, basic record keeping and lo-fi games made for English language users, therefore entirely useless to the common Korean. He was the highest selling worker in his company though, because even then he had the unique ability to convince just about any small business owner and house wife that a personal computer was essential.

So his quest for power therefore was quite simple, because basic human fact, one that he knew well, was the need for power. This need was enlarged in the spirit of vampires so it did not take much to collect a team ready to put themselves in danger for any sort of power. Cannon fodder the most of them, he knew he'd lose the lot, and other than his right-hand woman, Cassie, and Edgar he didn't much care. Cassie had no ability, no ability that one would be able to discern but Jun, who had been a spiritual capitalist in his lifetime, considered her the ying to his yang. She was not his mate, he was not in possession of a mate and he had no desire to obtain one, in fact she was a lesbian and was partnered, (though her mate Gina was on his list of expendable minions) Cassandra just balanced him. While he was brash and abrupt, Cassie, who had been a housewife and mother of three in her human life, was the sugar cookie sweet accomplice he needed for stabilization.

In fact, Edgar was the only other member of his coven that possessed an ability, the only reason Jun was keen on keeping him alive. An ability is much rarer than one would come to believe and it was a hell of a thing to waste. Add to that, Edgar was one of the few Jun did not have to persuade at all, he was not under Jun's thumb in any way, he genuinely craved the power as much as Jun did. Edgar's human life was a life of crime, crime of the organized variety.

Edgar was a mafia Kingpin in a ring based in the southern city of Guadalajara, Mexico, where he was known for his ruthless tactics and fondness for torture. When he was turned it was part of a two pack, his maker the lovely Miss Sofia, saw his soullessness even as a human as an asset and when she set eyes on his brother, the large and dense henchman Manuel, she turned them together. Jun had collected them as a trio in Texas, he actively sought then after whispered rumors of his skill. Edgar's power would scare most people more readily; he quite literally was the master of fear. Within seconds who could make any of those within a reasonable distance believe their biggest fear was about to occur, and if you were unfortunate enough to be within grasping distance, he could make you see it as clearly as if it were truly happening.

They were currently in stage one of their uprising, because while Jun was the leader of this leg of the race, there was still one above him, one that used him as a puppet. Maria had maneuvered and plotted this for years, since she helped the Cullen's eradicate the Volturi. Jasper knew when he asked her she would be helping for her own selfish reasons but desperate times called for desperate measures and those measures sparked a fire.

Maria had met Jun in the mid-1990's but it wasn't until the fall of the Volturi that she took him under her employ. She walked a fine line, playing as a casual informant for the newly formed vampire council, while taking in all knowledge of their daily operations and planning an revolt. Stage one was to get rid of the pups and no amount of training would prepare them for what was to come.

"So last night…" Randy started uncertainly after a long bout of silence, she blushed rolling so her bare back was to him.

"Can we not talk about that?" She asked as he kissed along her shoulder, letting his fingers come around front and trace the raised outline of her pert nipple. She moaned loudly, with each explorative touch.

"I'm your boyfriend?" He pressed, turning her so he could attack her collarbone with kisses.

"What would you like me to call you?" She asked harshly.

Last night in a rare sign of combat prowess, Devlin pinned Randy who had been distracted by a waft of Soli's sweet scent and she growled. So loudly and noticeably that Bella Cullen, watching from the sidelines with Rosalie at her side, laughed.

"Can't stand seeing your boyfriend manhandled?" Rosalie asked with a raise of her perfectly arched eyebrows. Soli had stupidly answered a resounding "no," thus agreeing to the word boyfriend.

"I would like you to call me your husband, father to your many, many children but boyfriend would be cool for now," Randy joked, his big perfect smile lighting his face.

All the baby fat had vanished from his cheeks so that he no longer looked much like the boy she grew up with, he was for all intents and purposes a man. An attractive, nice, funny, sweet, mature, loving man she had a hard time believing was hers. She wanted claims on him, she really did, but it just didn't seem right that she of all people would get him.

He looked so grown up now, broad and smooth. He buzzed his hair with Levi and Devlin two nights before, Soli almost cried as she did it, gently making sure not to knick his ear through her teary eyes. She was still trying to adjust to it. In a way it made him look like a solider, a soldier on his way to a war. She rubbed her fingers over the sandy brown stubble that remained as she spoke.

"Why do you love me?" It was a heavy question, they hadn't had heavy questions since February when he dragged her back to La Push.

Since then she had done as he instructed, she liked this manly possessive part of him. She hated that she liked it, it was so chauvinistic of her but when he told her she would take care of her body because it was his, she shivered and complied. When he told her she needed to stop thinking about the town and worry about herself, she cleaned out the apartment given to her and got to work. She didn't actually sleep there most nights but it was still hers and it was inhabitable, something she did all on her own.

"Is that a test? Like do I have to answer that correctly to deserve the honor of being called your boyfriend?" He asked settling on top of her and allowing his body to smash against her; she liked it. He was big, at just over 6 foot 3 now, a full foot taller than her. That's not to mention the well over a hundred pounds of muscle heavier than her he was, but she loved to feel his weight and once he knew she was sturdy enough to handle it, he complied. It was just proof perfect that they were meant to be because no normal human woman would be able to survive his full weight on top of her and she loved it. He loved it too, it was the closest he could get to her… without being inside of her, which he was still holding out on though it got harder and harder knowing now the silky perfection of her golden tanned skin.

"It's just a question," she smiled curtly. He knew by the stiffness that he had to answer correctly or suffer her wrath, the wrath that covered her pain. It was hard to believe almost like a disease, it had to be a mental sickness of some kind that made her believe she were not enough for him, but she did.

"I've always loved you," he said simply, inhaling the deep attractive aroma that clung to her hair.

"But why?" She asked curiously, nibbling playfully at his shoulder. She wanted to bite him, bad, there was a vampire urge in her whenever he was this close smelling so good. She wanted to taste him but she knew he wouldn't appreciate it so she fought the urge.

"Well, I imprinted on you, so obviously we're meant to be," he said matter-of-factly, she scoffed, she didn't like that answer.

"According to some people, but we've seen imprinting not work that doesn't automatically mean love—and besides you said you loved me before that. Why?"

"You're the most beautiful girl I've ever met," he offered unsurely.

"Vampire blood, can't be factored in to our relationship. All vamps are beautiful, it's an illusion."

"So this is a relationship?" He asked with an excited grin.

"I need to know why Randy… I don't… I'm not _good_ , I'm not good enough for you," she said seriously.

He hated this seriousness, because this serious brought forward other seriouses, like the fact that the vampire coven they were dealing with was a real threat. They became even more threatening and impressive as they grew, and they were growing quickly or at least that's what they'd heard. They were no longer in the Washington area, they had retreated but they weren't exactly hiding, making noise in Oregon as if to mock the pack.

"Because you are good Soli, you are _so_ good," he sighed, lifting himself off of her with his elbows so that he could look her in the eye.

"That's debatable."

"Well then let's debate it because I know you better than anyone in the whole world, and Soli, you are almost as beautiful on the outside as you are inside, and that's why I love you," he said breaking the one kiss minimum for the day and kissing her again.

"You don't know me like you think," she argued, not taking her lips from his because once their lips separated then it could no longer be counted as one kiss.

"I know you hate it when people kill bugs, because it's cruel, especially mosquitoes because they remind you of vampires and you feel like it's an attack on you. I know you cry whenever you watch movies where kids are separated from their mommies, even if you hide it. I know that when you cum your toes curl and you stop breathing, which scares me, because the thought of you not existing makes me physically sick and I know that in the world, there is nothing you love more than your brother Freddie. You see him as the only other person who understands, which makes me jealous," he said sliding his hand down the front of her body and under the rim of her shorts and panties.

This was a new development in their relationship, after months of sleeping in the same bed together without release, Soli became irritable. It had become unbearable for the both of them, and Randy started to remedy it, using his mammoth hands to please her. She tried to reciprocate but he stopped it, he wasn't sure he could handle it, he wanted all of her and it was an all or nothing kind of thing for him.

"You're wrong," she panted as he used his middle finger to draw soft lazy circles around her clit sending rippling pulses of pleasure though her body so that her hands made fist and her back arched involuntarily.

"I'm not, you're amazing, Soli," he breathed in her ear picking up speed. She pushed his hand down, urging him to enter her. He used one thick finger and it was enough, so warm and gentle it was almost wrong, things shouldn't feel that good. She felt warm and perfect and yet there was an itch. She loved the journey but the release was too addicting and she smiled, thrashed against him, moving her pelvis feverishly.

"No, no you're wrong about Freddie… I love him of course—But—oh god another, another," she begged and he complied adding a second finger.

"It's you though," she said seriously. "In the world… there's nothing… I love… more than you," she panted finding a steady rhythm against his hand.

"What?" Had she just said I love you? Could that be counted as an official 'I love you'?

"I love you," she screamed as she clenched around him hard, releasing intoxicatingly sweet warmth onto his hand.

That was indisputable, a real 'I love you', it didn't matter to him that it was in mid-orgasmic delight. She glowed, the post-orgasm glow that he loved more than any other face she made, even the 'Randy, I want you face,' which was a close second.

"I love you too," he said dumbfounded. He'd always imagine that when she would finally say it, it'd be some huge battle and he'd have to force it out but it wasn't, he didn't have to push her, she just said it.

"So I guess you're my boyfriend then," she said quickly turning her face so that she didn't have to see his shock anymore, it made her nervous.

She'd always imagined when she finally did have the guts to tell him how much she loved him, he'd ravage her. He'd use his super human speed to remove all of their clothing and take her, wherever they were but he didn't. He rolled them over to their side so that he was hugging her from behind, his big hand rested on her cheek, she kissed the palm, holding it closer to her face with her tiny ones.

"Yeah," he choked and she turned over facing him. He was teary eyed and she loved him that much more for it. She kissed the corner of his eye where the slight dampness was accumulating and sighed.

"Are you okay?"

"I did it," he exhaled, rubbing the small of her back absentmindedly, it sent chills throughout her body, goosebumps sprouting so quick she shivered.

"Yeah…you tamed the Shrew," she giggled, reaching up and kissing him for the third time today. She couldn't help counting, it was a habit she needed to break. He wasn't thinking about it, he kissed her repeatedly experimenting with pressure, intensity and style. He turned their innocent peck into a battle that made her wet, soaking a small ring into her underwear.

"Do you have a condom?" She asked as he removed her shorts, careful to leave the tiny underwear intact.

"Fuck," he spat. He rarely swore, and when he did, it turned her on more. Throwing himself back on the bed in defeat, he cursed his stupidity, condoms, of course they would need condoms! She had waited for this, longer than she would like to admit and now that he was willing, now that he wanted to do it she wasn't letting up. She mounted his body, using her free hand to tug at his pants.

"I need you," she moaned, just as a scream filled the house and Collin, too worried to register the scent of heightened arousal burst into his room where a topless Soli still mounted him. Thankfully for her super speed and Collin's distraction, he didn't see much.

"We have to go," Collin said covering his face as Soli threw on a sundress.

"Where?" Both Soli and Randy asked, Randy praying his erection would go down already. Helen burst through the door, Randy covered his crotch with a pillow blushing profusely.

"They took Annabelle," Helen said evenly but her eyes were blazing in a way that terrified Soli, it was the way she looked at her when they argued about Randy.

"Who took what?" Randy was slower to the uptake than Soli who gasped, almost flipping over the bed to get to his side.

"The vamps," Soli whispered, pulling his arm with a razor sharp grip. This couldn't be. They had promised, they had sworn they would be prepared. Alice had assured her quite clearly there would be no battle until September.

"Solace is on his way, Michael, Anna and Jordan are going with us." Coming out of retirement, it was a big thing, Michael, Anna and Jordan hadn't run with the pack for awhile, though they continued to phase from occasion to assure they didn't start aging.

"Us? Took her?" The words didn't quite register.

"She's gone, Randy, and their launching an attack, we have to go. I'm not letting you go out there alone," Collin continued. He was his only child and he would not could not lose him, he would like most fathers, die for his boy, it was not a question. But what Randy was stuck on was the ' _they'_ and not the ' _we'_ part of the sentence. They were coming here? The vampires? To La Push, where Soli was?

"But Soli—"

"She'll be at Kim's house with Jared, Paul, Sam, and Quil, if anyone comes near, they can still phase, and they are some of the best fighters we've had, she'll be fine but we need to go," Collin said pulling his son towards the door. They walked quickly, Randy and Collin on either side of Helen and Soli as if they thought something would pop out and at this point no one could be sure, because Annabelle had been taken by a human. The human was of course in the employ of vampires but it made things less certain, the wolves could trust no one.

When they arrived at the Cameron house, Soli and Randy said their goodbyes, they weren't sure if he would come back. She stayed strong for him, she gave him repeated kisses and no one watched because they were all giving their own goodbyes. Mark was attached to his mother next to them and they didn't even register their stolen kisses.

Fifteen wolves were leaving: Randy, Collin, Brady, Seth, Phil, Krys, Michael, Anna, Jordan, Mark, David, Taylor, Melody, Devlin and Levi, the house was booming but it was a quiet boom, tons of small circles in every direction.

"I love you. I love you so much, Randy. I can't live right without you, so you have to come back to me, promise please," Soli whispered.

He had her wrapped around the waist, her arms grasping at his head and pulling him down to her, kissing along his hairline as she spoke. Solace arrived with his wife Amber, as Randy promised repeatedly to fight his hardest. Randy didn't hear when Jasper announced they had to go, and he didn't stop kissing her till Solace pulled him off of her.

"I'd guard her with my life," Solace promised, shaking his hand roughly. Amber was pregnant, only about a month along and it had been decided he would stay behind with the retired wolves, keeping watch on La Push. They had found a way around Alice's shield, Alice knew there was a group near the northern border of Forks but the wolves involvement made everything beyond that a blur. With Annabelle gone, they couldn't be sure who, where or how they would strike, and Solace, one of the most highly trained, was not taking a chance leaving Amber's side. He had wanted and waited for children for a long time.

When Helen was done crying over her son and kissing her husband, they were gone, and like many a fairytale of yore, the women left behind, those without their imprints, children, friends where left shaking. This was something the wolf-girls had not had to bond over in a long time, a possible reason their ties were not as strong. The bonds grew and multiplied over the course of a night. Amber and Soli sat hand in hand for the majority of the first day, Harley and Maddox fastened in their laps. Tara and Trisha stood huddled, their children kept close at their sides. Claire and Helen did not separate, Helen distracting herself by coddling and holding Claire's son Addison, while Emily and Rachel stayed with Kim, not speaking, not even attempting to console Kim who had two children in mortal danger, possibly three.

Ethan had stayed behind in Volterra, a command from Jake who was hesitant about leaving his wife and newborn son William so unprotected, Embry and Freddie were also there as an order from their Alpha. Alice knew from vision, they would attempt to take over Volterra next, but he didn't trust they would keep to that plan or that they didn't have forces already set up in Europe.

At the end of the night when the logistics of sleeping had to be figured out, Soli brought Amber and Solace back to her apartment above Quil's shop, Tara and her daughters following along. Solace had made the same promise he gave to Randy to Phil, who had been his best friend for over thirty years. He was a man of his word and he stayed in wolf form, stationed at the back door of the shop the entire night.

Paul, Rachel, Trisha and her daughters stayed with the Uley's, Sam and Paul pacing six hours of the first night. Quil, Claire, Kim and Jared stayed together with the three young Atearas at the Cameron house, Kim couldn't sleep and Maddox, though she did not understand the seriousness of the situation, felt antsy now that Solace was back. She kept Kim company as Jared and Quil took turns patrolling the immediate area, feeling not all together right.

This went on for three weeks, though the sleeping arrangements varied from time to time. It was 22 days before the scent of vampire filled Solace's nose.

Jared and Solace phased quickly, it took longer for Jared who had not phased in years. They were instantly thrown into the collective minds of the pack. Their brothers had succeeded in taking out ten of their thirteen but three were headed back to La Push with the sole purpose of vengeance. Jun, Gina and Manuel were not the fiercest of the fighters but they had the rage of loss on their side. They had all lost something, Jun lost his commander, Gina had lost her mate and Manuel had lost everything because in his world, there was only his big brother Edgar and Miss Sofia.

Edward made it back to La Push first and side by side, Edward, Solace and Jared fought.

Paul was seconds away from the Cameron house when he heard it, a grotesque grind like a stone being smashed into bits. Before Jun was entirely bifurcated, he made one last vicious move, he fought against Jared's hold on his torso and reached frantically grabbing Solace's hind leg, and squeezing with every last bit of hate in his still heart. He pierced the skin, smashing the bone into tiny shards, some of which were forcefully expelled from Solace's body. The rest of the pack, returned minutes later; fifteen wolves had left and only thirteen had returned but Soli didn't ask, she didn't see anything past Randy. She didn't see as Anna and Mark laid out the body, with reverence, Mark's shoulders shaking from silent tears. She didn't see as Tara and Kim collapsed at the very sight of the lifeless form.

Randy ran to her, covered in sweat, smelling like blood and musk and forest, she didn't care. She climbed him like a tree covering his face in endless kisses, he hurt. He hurt everywhere, he'd never been this close to death, he'd never lost someone he loved. Physically he was just as bad, he'd never worked so hard, every muscle in his body was burning, but he still wanted her. He needed her. The pain of being away from her, worrying about her constantly was almost as bad at the thick chunk of skin ripped from his back, or the three ribs cracked from one roundhouse kick.

"Oh God! Randy. Randy. Randy," she repeated his name is a fevered whisper, kissing everything she could reach.

"I love you so much," she had spent twenty-two days cursing herself for not telling him sooner, for not being woman enough to tell him every day she had known.

He didn't need to look where he was going, his feet led him to her house, up her stairs and through the door, which he placed her firmly against, kissing her with such force, her stomach dropped. He didn't bother removing her dress, he pushed her underwear aside dropping his sweats before he plunged into her.

She moaned and he growled, pounding his fist against the wooden door overcome by the feeling of her tight warmth against him. He stood still as she adjusted around him, nothing and no one had ever felt so perfect, nothing had ever gone so deep inside of her.

They breathed deep ragged breaths, their chest rising and falling at an irregular tempo that managed to stay in unison.

"You're mine," he hissed through clenched teeth. It was hard to believe how good it felt, it brought to life a primal need, energy he'd been tapped into for the last three weeks. She clawed at the wall, grabbing at the door frame as he started to move, thrusting up and into her hard and quick. His warm pelvis pressed hard against her sensitive mound with every push up and she cried from the combined pleasure, a kind she never experienced before, and the relief of his return.

Randy's legs grew weak, the endless running and fighting was starting to catch up to him. He swung her around not breaking their connection and dropping on the couch. She straddled him, ripping off her dress and bra, Randy destroyed her underwear, throwing it behind his head before he grabbed her hips guiding her to a slow deliberate pace.

Her whole body burned from their combined heat, she ran warm but he was burning hot inside of her. She could feel tiny beads of sweat form on her back which made her slightly slick as he grabbed at her ass, his fingers making deep indents in the soft flesh there.

"Randy, you're—so good," she couldn't make sentences. She'd missed talking to him, so much so that words wouldn't form.

She brought herself up, her breast momentarily in his face before she came back down, the feeling of reentering her rejuvenated him. He pulled out placing her gently across the couch, she brought her knees up so high they were almost at his underarms. The new position allowed him to push deep, and she screamed a profound guttural scream as he picked up the pace.

He was bruised, the whole left side of his torso was purple and blue and she fingered it gingerly before the pre-orgasm feeling of drowning in sensations overcame her and she wrapped her legs around his firm ass pulling him closer.

She opened her mouth to let out a torrent of profanities but he moved forward giving her a waft of his scent and clear access to his shoulder. She bit down onto it, too overcome with him to stop herself, and she sucked hard on the wound stopping when a mouthful of his hot blood entered her mouth and she finally reach a plateau, he followed shortly after.


	9. Chapter 9

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Chapter 9: Things Weren't Always Easy

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 _January 1st- June 30th 2037_

 _Mourning is like a shroud that envelops the spirit; hiding the moments of joy that blossom even in the darkest hour. Love, friendship, family, togetherness often times feel wrong when confronted with the loss of someone so beloved in a community. So that it felt awful to rejoice over a fairytale wedding, to cry tears of joy for the long awaited addition to your family, or to bask in the overwhelming glow of all encompassing love. The La Push pack had never dealt with a death of this caliber; they had lost friends, advisors, parents but they had never lost a brother, a son, a hero._

Tragedy hit the Varn family hard and repeatedly, first with the murder/suicide of Christian and Marilyn Varn, leaving behind their daughter, Crystal, and young sons, Jordan and Michael. They were raised well, close and protected in the home of their Grandmother Eileen and Papa Gordon. Gordon left them too, taken by a heart attack when the young Varns were not yet in middle school. Grandmother Varn left them years later, just young adults forced to face the world together. The three of them were a unit, Crystal the steadfast, Jordan the brains and Michael the spirit.

Losing a sibling is like no other loss imaginable, because the bond between siblings is unrivaled. With Crystal's last breath The Brains and The Spirit became one. Over time their family grew again, through Michael's marriage to Anna and the birth of their three children, and finally when Jordan found his match in Mark Uley. Through times of mourning and times of celebration, Michael and Jordan's relationship remained unwavered. So it was appropriate then for Michael and Jordan to suffer this final loss together as siblings; like Levi and Melody would.

Devlin Varn was just thirteen when he walked away from La Push, his family at his side, he would return unmoving; the center of a storm of sorrow. He was too young to die, and for the mothers in town, those who knew him as a polite and cordial boy, it was almost too much to bear. None of them knew how they could ever survive after losing a child in battle and none of them could think of the right thing to say or to do to help Anna during her time of loss.

For the children in town, the teens and preteens, who knew Devlin as a protective, loving and warm hearted guy, it was a shock. None of them ever imagined that one of their numbers could one day disappear. This was something they feared for their own fathers and uncles, who fought and risked their lives as part of their job but none of them could have foreseen losing a peer and among them none were sure how to react.

For the La Push wolves, those who were still healing from the battle, each relived the final hour, the hour in which Devlin was lost, trying to think of ways in which they could have prevented it. At night when Levi's mournful howl haunted their dreams, unsettling and discordant from his unused throat, they were sure it would never leave their mind. None of them could completely soothe the feelings of guilt, though there was not a thing they could have done differently to change it.

Anna and Michael buried their middle child on the 29th of August, just three days after their return, in a small private ceremony outside of La Push, hiding the bright red circular scar that had caused his death. It was a small scar, almost inconspicuous on his body which had been severely bruised, but it was fatal. The venom was in his system, seeping into his bloodstream and stopping his heart before Alice could attempt to suck it out, it was a lost effort. He obtained the wound while leaping to his father's aid, that fact would torture Michael till his final days.

For Randy and Soli, the months after Devlin's death were solemn ones, interspersed with burst of uncontrollable lust and joy. For while they both mourned in their own way, for their own reasons, the insurmountable relief and pleasure of finally being together was hard to quell. It was a bittersweet victory for Randy, he had survived his first battle, protected and served his town and finally won the love of his imprint, but in the process had lost a brother.

Devlin and Randy wouldn't have been described as best friends, Devlin and Levi spent most of their waking hours together, a duo that was hard to break into. Growing up though, just a few years apart, they were close. Randy had learned sign language through Devlin, who did not believe in translating for Levi within the pack. Randy was never fluent but he tried and, for this, Devlin loved him. At school, though a grade apart, Randy, Devlin and Melody would sit together at lunch, Randy provided an adequate substitute for Levi, as he attended school off of the reservation, at a school for the hearing impaired.

Randy was not there when Devlin died, he saw it through the collective mind, miles away with Phil, Brady, his father and Kate, tracking Annabelle. Finding her, hungry, dirty but unharmed was a sad sort of victory, because while he no longer had the crushing fear of losing his best friend, he experienced the multiplied horror and distress of his fellow wolves while he served as a bodyguard for Brady, who held Annabelle tightly in his arms as they made their way back to the rest of the pack.

For Soledad, her mourning was entirely private. She did not cry, not even with Randy, because while she loved Devlin (more than anyone would be able to understand), she did not feel, as an outsider to their community, as though she had the right to grieve. Growing up faster than those around her, Soledad was only Devlin's peer for a short period of time, but she had been a young lady, a beautiful young lady for much longer. Devlin, who was a quiet boy, liked her. She knew this. He was too shy to say anything or follow her as Randy had, but he admired her from afar and Soli played into it. Not in a naughty or inappropriate way but when he was near, she would lean into him, pat his back lovingly and smile, for in the pack, he was one of the few who did not seem to think poorly of her. He saw her as the ultimate fantasy woman, something that made her feel more at ease at family meals and functions, welcome almost.

He was a smart boy, she always liked this about him, and the entirely expressive delight in his eyes whenever she spoke to him. Every birthday she would give him a soft kiss on the cheek and he would sign an appreciative 'thanks'. He did not speak much, though he could, and having the capacity for accelerated acquisition, Soledad learned sign language quickly from observation within the first years of her life. Whenever she did have an opportunity to use it, she always thought of Devlin, not Levi whom most in the pack would associate it with, but Devlin. Also cupcakes, such a benign baked good would forever in her eyes bring forth memories of Devlin, because on his twelfth birthday when Jared made the triplets the Cameron famous three-tiered cupcake birthday cake, he became so distracted by the tight black dress that clung to Soli's body that he fumbled into it, causing the entire top tier to fall to the floor. As a gift to him she made a big show of cleaning it up, leaning and bending in just the right way. She would never repeat the story, no one would understand her logic or reasoning but it was what it was.

With Amber gone again, nursing Solace's injury in Alaska with the Cullen's, Soli kept these memories, this pain to herself, bottled and suppressed. She held Randy as he cried, reasoned with him when he replayed and relived that night, trying desperate to think of a way he could have saved him. She was his crutch as he lost motor functions at the funeral, using all of her strength to get him in her car and back to Claire's house where the wake was being held. At points like tonight, when his need for her and for the comfort only she could provide became apparent, she would lie with him, slowly and soothingly joining her body with his.

"Uhmm," she moaned, her hand trailing down his hard chest as he kissed her. It was a slow burning kind of heat, where her chest would be filled with so much love and lust that her breaths came out in heavy puffs, as if she were trying to dispel the excess.

"I love you," he whispered in her ear moving down to kiss the soft spot behind the lobe, the spot where she spritzed her perfume which smelled nowhere as good as her natural aroma.

"I love you more, Randy," she panted. Running her finger up his spine, she made figure eights on his shoulder blades before repositioning herself. They were naked, entirely unclothed but not joined, she spread her legs wider, pushing him forward and pressing him into her warmth.

"Nnngh," he groaned, clawing at the sheets behind her head. They moved together, a smooth symphony of their moans before she clenched around him, bringing him to a close.

"I want to do this every night for the rest of forever," she vowed in his ear. Losing Devlin, seeing the death she was certain she would never experience in her tiny immortal family, not only hurt her, it terrified her. Death was real and she'd never had to confront it before. Randy, her love, her world, needed to stay with her forever, for longer than forever.

Her face was very serious, it sent shivers down his back. Though he'd dreamt of it for as long as she was alive, he never actually thought he'd heard her say those words. The fire and the sincerity in her eyes left him speechless. He nodded twice, deep nods he hoped conveyed the message that he would have no other life.

She sighed, rolling onto her side and bringing him closer, resting her head on the pillow they shared. Her eyes were no longer fiery, they'd lost the intensity and morphed to this dark clouded appearance they'd been adopting when she thought he wasn't looking. He knew it was her way of mourning, while his mother hissed at the impropriety of her dress and her concerts in the weeks after Devlin's death, Randy knew she needed those. He didn't try to stop her as she lit up the stage, thrashing and screaming; this was her release. He didn't ask her to change or voice concern when she wore a skin tight black number to Devlin's funeral because he knew it was for Devlin, it was her small way of paying homage to him.

"You don't talk about him," Randy said, it was not accusatory as others in the pack would have said it, but an observation.

"I'm sorry," she sighed, hiding her face, he didn't press. He rolled her over pulling her small nightgown off of her nightstand and handing it to her, slipping on his shorts before pulling her in for their book selection of the night. After a few good twirls she landed on _The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby_ by Charles Dickens.

 _"It was the same dark place as ever: every room dismal and silent as it was wont to be, and every ghostly article of furniture in its customary place. The iron heart of the grim old clock, undistributed by all the noise without, still beat heavily within its dusty case…"_ He read soft and clearly against her hair and Soledad, only half listening, fell asleep in his arms, her tiny hand grasping the rim of his shorts as they did every night now, afraid that he might have to leave her again.

The months of mourning pushed back Tara and Phil's wedding. She had not been married before, Tara and her ex Nicholas had their daughters Ava and Chloe out of wedlock and while she had been thrilled, over the moon looking through books and magazines before the coven posed a threat, she couldn't as a mother bring herself to send out invitations during such a terrible time.

During the weeks that Jordan and Mark were out to battle a letter, a small white envelope arrived at their doorstep, with an announcement they had been awaiting for three years: they were going to be parents. Their petition for adoption had been approved, so while Jordan, Michael and Anna tended to the remaining Varn children, trying to make sense of a senseless tragedy, Mark prepared. He mourned, he spent hours thinking of how he could have, as Alpha, done his job differently but it was hard for him to contain the joy he felt at the addition of little Eli. His mother Emily helped redecorate the guest room, making it appropriate for a six-year old, while his brother David, the doting father of two precious little girls, childproofed the cabin, trying hard not to disturb Jordan, now feverish in his writing efforts.

And Annabelle, now back, safe and healthy tried with everything she had to restrain the bursting joy she felt at being home and in love with her Brady. She was just seventeen but those three weeks had cemented a fact in her so strongly that it was difficult to hide: she was lucky. She was the most fortunate, blessed girl in the world and she never wanted to take for granted the blessings she had been bestowed since her birth. One: her imprint Brady, who was in her eyes more than any one man should be. Two: her parents, who had worked tirelessly to spoil her rotten, and three: her siblings, who supported, loved and nurtured her in every way. She was careful. Careful not to flaunt her new love or smile too wide when out of the confines of her room, or Brady's, which she started to frequent after her return, but for Annabelle's mother Kim enough was enough.

Kim knew well the importance of respecting the mourning process, but she also knew when it was time to try returning some bit of normalcy among the pack. So three days before Mark and Jordan were set to bring home their child, she went shopping. She brought along her daughter and her Brady, as he no longer left her side, and together the three of bought enough food to feed their army.

Taylor and Melody were set the task of invitations and side by side, sitting cozily in the living room they made an invitation requesting the presence of every pack member and family to the "Elijah Uley-Varn welcome/ Phil and Tara engagement party." Jared baked, a kind of therapy he needed now that the compulsion to phase again started to play with his senses, making him occasionally jittery and restless.

Maddox and Harley Ateara worked alongside their mother as she set about decorating the Ateara house, where they were to hold the event. Her daughters had inherited their mother's eye for art and with their little brother Addison now toddling at their feet, they decorated paper lanterns that their father hung with care.

Emily, Rachel and Kim worked in the kitchen together as mothers and friends, creating an eclectic menu to please the palette of every expected visitor. Trisha and her daughters were assigned the duty of delivering each handmade invitation, bundling up in their winter's best and handing each envelope with a smile, even going as far as Seattle, where Leah and small her family lived and worked.

Soli received her invitation from the tiny hands of three-year old Samantha who smiled up at her adorably through chubby baby cheeks, and together with Randy, Soli arrived on the Ateara's doorstep with two small presents, one for Eli and one for Tara.

Harley, her little Lee, was the first to greet her, demanding she pick her up though she wore the kind of heels that made it difficult to walk, much less carry seven-year olds. Randy picked her up, so that Soledad could nuzzle the girl lovingly, and to her surprise, Annabelle hugged her soon after Harley became distracted by the appearance of Tara and her daughters.

"You look well," Soli said stiffly, she wasn't sure how to react to this kind of treatment from Annabelle.

"I am," Annabelle nodded, Brady pulled her back to him inhaling her hair loudly before loosening his grip again.

"How's Solace?" Soli asked, searching desperately for topics to keep the conversation going, she was not good with this small talk thing.

"He's walking, it's a little limpy… the damage… Carlisle thinks it's permanent," she whispered, no one talked of that day, not when they were in groups.

When Eli arrived, held snuggly in Jordan's arms, everyone took turns greeting him, he was a natural. Mark and Jordan tried to keep the boy close, afraid he would be overwhelmed in the crowd, but after an hour or so of smiling faces, he demanded to be put on the floor signing wildly and playing with all his new cousins.

Mark and Jordan, though they were stable, secure and more in love than most any family on the waiting lists, were not the first choice for most agencies. Unwanted healthy babies went directly to married heterosexual couples, this was just a fact of the conservative world they lived in. It was after a simple courthouse wedding and through a private agency called All Aid (a secular organization that placed the more 'undesirable' children), that Mark and Jordan were blessed with Eli. Elijah with big brown doe eyes hidden behind thick glasses, and a tousled top of curly brown hair was deaf, and it was Jordan and Mark's ASL fluency that sealed the deal.

Pushing his coke bottle glasses up his nose and weaving through the warm crowd was and would remain one of the best days of Eli's life. He ran back to Mark and Jordan a few times throughout the night, clasping Jordan's big thumb in his little hand but almost immediately he felt at home with a sea of people who he could communicate with freely.

Michael and Anna arrived late, spending over an hour convincing their remaining son Levi to get out of his bed, shower and get into their car. It was harder now to communicate with him, because while he didn't talk much before he now refused to use his hands for anything besides daily hygiene and nutrition purposes. When they made their way to the door, a loud joyous scream from inside made Michael flinch, he was suffering from mild symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder and Anna, who had been the rock during this family's loss, grabbed his hand, smiling stiffly at him as she pulled him through the door.

The scream was Claire's, as she wrapped her arms tightly around Tara.

"That'll be us someday," Randy whispered into Soli's ear as she watched Tara being passed around the circle, having just announced her pregnancy.

"The babies?" She asked uncertainly, her stomach turning a little from longing as she watched the wolf-girls warmly handle Tara. The children she was sure of, she wanted nothing more than a beautiful little grey eyed boy like Randy, in fact she'd have just about as many babies as they could reasonably afford, but she was pretty certain the announcement would not garner such a loving response.

"All of it," he said confidently, kissing alongside her face, from hair line to jaw.

"I hope so," she sighed, wrapping his arms more snuggly around her.

Levi.

She tried not to stare as he stood in the corner, his eyes glued to the floor so not one aspect of the party affected him. He looked so much like Devlin, identical and it made her heart drop trying hard to avoid the feelings, the sadness that crept into her heart at odd intervals. She very sneakily wiped the corner of her eye where a tear was forming, dragging Randy with her as she congratulated Tara.

"Desserts!" Helen announced happily, as Jared, Kim and Emily brought out mountains of sweets. Soli froze, the crowd around her moved towards it, including Randy, until he saw the rigid lock of Soli's knees.

"What's wrong?" Randy asked doubling back to her, her eyes stayed glued on Jared, on the tall, beautiful arrangement of cupcakes that formed a larger tiered cake like those seen at weddings, the same kind Jared had made for Devlin on his twelfth birthday.

She had not cried, had no expressed her regret, sorrow or heartache in the five months since his death and that cake broke her. Like a glass bottle she cracked and burst, losing all the strength in her limbs her knees unlocked and she was held up only by Randy's big hands. She clutched at her chest and he panicked.

"Soli. Soledad!" But she couldn't hear over her own anguished sobs.

"H—he… th—the—Devlin loved th-those stupid cupcakes!" she wailed and he picked her up, wrapping her arms around his neck and crushing her to his body. He turned to take her away, she would hate for everyone to see her tears but he was stopped. Helen held out her arms for the girl, and after a long stare-down he caved and placed her down so Helen could pull her into a motherly hug.

"I know," Helen whispered in her ear. "I know."

"Let it out," Rachel coaxed, brushing her hair out of her face and pressing herself lightly against Soli's back.

"We're here for you, Soli. You'll be okay," Claire said placing a soft kiss on Soli's cheek which made her cry harder. Randy went to grab her, to hold her and pull her close, he didn't know what to do when she cried, he felt lost.

"We've got her," Emily said, patting him firmly on the chest before she went to Soli's side. "Come on beautiful, let's get some air," she said, coaxing Soli towards the door, and the other wolf-girls, the mothers, the daughter and the sisters followed after.

"He—I—so sweet," Soli managed to choke out after trying to start sentences that hurt too much to finish.

"The sweetest," Tara agreed, brushing her cheek lightly.

"For his birthday we ate that cupcake thing," Soli informed them, trying to give reason for her sudden breakdown but they didn't need it, they understood.

"I remember," Melody whispered, she was leaning on the other side of the long winding porch, holding herself tight. Jessy moved to her side, placing her head on Melody's shoulder.

"I—I didn't mean to ruin a-another party," Soli, recovering from her outburst, was having a difficult time steadying her breath.

"This ain't ruined," Kim snickered as she joined them. She had searched the house for Soli's bag so she could bring Soli her pack of cigarettes and a lighter. While Kim no longer smoked she remembered the need for a cigarette after a good cry.

"Oh God no! Not like when I announced I was pregnant at my parent's anniversary dinner," Trisha said waving away Soli's apology.

"Or when Brady let it slip that Collin had had a vasectomy without my knowledge at Annabelle's third birthday party," Helen piped in.

"Oh, that was bad," Emily agreed with a smile.

"Don't forget Nessie's wedding when Solace and your dad almost killed each other over your mother," Claire added. Soli hadn't heard that story, she hadn't heard any of their stories, but she wanted to.

"My dad caught me and Brady making out at Devlin's 12th birthday party, remember?" Annabelle asked from her spot next to her mom, whom she held tighter nowadays. Soli didn't remember because she had left that party early, ashamed of the looks she got for continuing to date Rex though it hurt Randy so much.

She used the tip of her gold pump to put out her cigarette and smiled, "I missed that one," she joked.

"Well you're not going to miss another one. Come on, we're bringing out the good stuff to celebrate, and it's not a party till someone makes a fool of themselves," Claire said motioning to the door.

"You could probably use a drink," Kim added, putting her arm around her waist as Soli weakly made her way back inside.

"Yeah, that'd be nice."

Randy waited for her by the stairs his hands balled nervously, Levi standing next to him, watched intently as she walked back in.

"Don't—don't scare me like that again," Randy scolded half heartedly as the girls filed in behind her.

"I'm sorry," she said kissing his cheek softly.

'I'm sorry' she signed to Levi who still watched her in silence.

'I understand' he responded stoically. It was the first time he'd communicated to anyone since Devlin's death.


	10. Chapter 10

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Chapter 10: But They Lived Happily Ever After

*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*o

August 18th 2038

 _This tale was not for the faint of heart, it has led you through the depths of depression, understanding, mortality, mourning and love. So I chose to end this story the way it began, with a warning. After layers of hard shell were chipped away, what remains shines; sparkles so bright it can hurt your eyes, so beloved readers beware, because there is only so much cutesy one person can take._

 _If at points while reading this final installment you are overwhelmed with their disgustingly mushy love, try to look back, to remember all of the difficult steps they took to be here, lest you unleash a torrent of rainbow smiles on all that you meet. You have been warned._

"How do I look?" Randy asked goofily from across the room, slices of cucumbers placed over his eyelids as if he were getting a facial.

"Randy!" Soli squealed, stomping her little feet.

"Don't play with the food, you're supposed to be helping me." She tried to sound stern but he looked so damn cute, she couldn't help but smile, and it was hard to sound mad through a smile that took over your entire face. She slid over to him as he removed the slices, popping them both in his mouth with a grin. He loved making her squeal like that, even if he had to make himself look like a fool to get it, there was just something about the way her blood rushed to the summit of her perfect cheeks.

"Sorry," he said with a halfhearted pout that made her stomach drop, she loved his pouty lips.

"S'kay," she caved, letting her eyes roam over the wide expanse of his shoulders. He was enticing, even when he was being silly.

They were busy preparing for Soledad's first time playing host to the wolf-girl Sunday brunches, Soli had gone a bit overboard. The entire kitchen was covered from end to end with enough food to feed the entire pack, though only the girls were set to come. It was a triply special day for Soli because it not only was it her first time playing host like a real adult, but it was also her twelfth birthday. Thirdly, and most special was that today was the day of her brother Fredrico's return to La Push.

He had called her about two weeks previously and announced his sudden arrival. He officially told her that a life of academia was not for him, but knowing him as she did, she knew this was a lie because Fredrico had always loved to learn. She didn't question it too much because she loved him, and the very idea of having a member of her family back with her made her heart flutter.

She scurried with Claire, Mark and Jordan, trying hard make the larger of the two guest rooms inhabitable. The apartment wasn't large but after a couple hundred dollars and a few hours of elbow grease, the place was set to be home for the youngest Calls, the youngest of which was at this very moment landing a few miles away in Seattle.

So in Soli's mind this triply important day needed to go off without a hitch, it was vital. Randy was set the minor task of finger sandwiches, but since he ate one for every three he made, it was a slow process. Soli whizzed around him trying to make everything look neat but relaxed, the girls would start coming in an hour or so.

"Are you going to wear that? Not that I mind or anything, but I'm staying if you do," Randy said popping another sandwich in his mouth as he added a layer of them to the pyramid shaped pile. Soli was wearing a pair of red stiletto Manolo Blahnik's that her mother sent her from France where they were currently residing and a very short black teddy over a killer red lace set of lingerie. The lingerie was also new, sent to her as an early birthday present from Amber with a note that read "Drive him wild" and she was, he'd never thought so little of food in his life.

"I'll get dressed when everything is done, Snuggle Bear, so hurry up," she huffed, putting the last embellishment on her strawberry-cream pie.

"I didn't say I wanted you to get dressed, just that I wouldn't leave if you didn't," Randy clarified, pulling her into his lap the second she was close enough.

In truth she knew he wouldn't leave because this was one of the only days they had to spend together, but she didn't point it out. He took his pointer finger and ran in down the middle of her chest making her squirm before he pulled the teddy back and looked underneath.

"Do you like?" Soli asked with a mischievous grin, placing her hand on the side of his face.

"Yes," he answered honestly. He didn't do coy or flirty, he couldn't; he was just entirely, one hundred percent enamored with her and he didn't hide it. This was exactly what Soli needed and everyday when he showed her just how much he cared for her, she was overcome with the kind of joy she couldn't assign words to.

She had work to do, tons, but she wanted him, no matter how she tried to dim the fire she felt for him, it was uncontrollable; she needed him.

She swiveled in his lap so that her butt was pressed firmly against his member, her head titled back and resting on his shoulder. He kissed the exposed skin of her neck, touching down the front of her body, her nipples standing at attention under the thin silk garment as his hands slid down.

"Not in the kitchen," she moaned as he moved to undo his pants. She laughed, a sweet peeling laugh that lightened his heart as he flipped her over and carried her fireman style over his shoulder and into the first bedroom he saw, the small unoccupied guest room near the bathroom.

"Will you get mad if I say you look really sexy when you cook?" He asked, fumbling with the elaborate bows and closures on her underwear before she giggled and pushed his hands aside, sliding out of them.

"No, so say it," she commanded, slipping the black silk and the tiny pieces of red lace off of her body so that she stood before him donning only a very tall set of heels.

"You look so sexy when you cook…and when you clean…and shower…and watch TV…and read," he continued, as he undressed in front of her. She pulled him down with her, spreading wide to allow him the space between her legs.

She gasped when he entered her, surprised again by the perfection of their bodies, the way they fit so perfectly.

"Ugh! Randy. I love you. I love you so much, so so so much," she breathed in his ear, growing louder with every thrust. This had been her promise to Randy, the promise she made after Devlin's death. She would tell him every day for as long as the sun rose and set, that she loved him, as many times as she could because they never lost meaning. She never understood that before, but the words 'I love you' could be just as powerful as the first time they were uttered, and no matter how many times you said them if you meant it, and she did.

He moved faster, revitalized by the sincerity in her voice, they were in love. She was the center of his world and they were in love, madly so. She clenched around him, shook and released, he slowed his pace for a second, brought his fingers down to slowly massage her swollen bundle and roared back to life.

She cried out, rocking her hips with him. He had the insane ability of bringing to life a string of orgasms that lasted upwards to an hour, making her weak.

"You're so perfect," he kissed behind her ear, repositioning himself so that he slid even farther inside of her, when the doorbell rang.

"Fuck! They're early," Soli cried rolling from under him.

"Coming!" She screamed out the door.

"Randy, get it, I need clothes," Soli screamed grabbing the small red bra and panties and running naked into the bathroom where her clothes for the afternoon were hanging. Randy using his werewolf speed answered the door for Tara and her now 7 months old daughter, Hope. Hope was a beautiful shade of pale brown, with almond eyes and cute little baby lips, a perfect combination of her mother and her father.

"Hey, Randy," Tara said knowingly, walking in the door with Phil not far behind. Phil was looking a bit rounder in the face now that he had stopped phasing and was aging with his imprint, but he was happy.

"Hi guys, she's um, getting ready she should—" he stopped talking when she glided in the room, looking stunning in a sophisticated black and white lace dress that was still entirely sexy as it clung tight to her body. She had applied red lipstick that matched her shoes to a tee and Randy was instantly enthralled again. She was perfect, plain and simple, there would not and could not be one person he loved more than her.

Soli winked at him with a playful grin as she watched him stare at her, taking the beautiful baby girl in her arms and lovingly nuzzle her to her chest. He was just seventeen, a few days away from starting his senior year but whenever he saw her hold a child as she was now, he thought about starting their family. Soli was determined for him to go to school and fulfill his dream of becoming a horticulturist, wherever he wanted to go she would enroll and, at the moment, a school in Vancouver seemed to be the destination.

He would study trees, she would study music and only then would he be allowed to daydream about their family. Soli however was free to dream about it whenever she liked and she did it often with the growing families that surrounded her. She'd already picked names, one for a boy (Tristan) and one for a girl (Ivory), whichever they might have.

Tara placed a small birthday present for her on the living room table and the sight of the little hand tied bow made Soli's eyes water. She was not used to so many people outside of her immediate family knowing or remembering her birthday. Every wolf-girl to grace the doorstep of her house that day bore a present, including Claire who brought the best present of all, her brother Freddie now fully grown and huge.

She ran to him, it had been two years since she'd last seen him. He lifted her up, twirling her around so that her fabulous stilettos dangled under her.

"Que bonita," Freddie sighed, placing a small kiss on her cheek. He'd never in his life seen his sister look so happy, it was beautiful. She beamed, her eyes shining in a way he could never have imagined.

"Si, muy bonita," Randy agreed from behind her. In the last year, he'd spent hours familiarizing himself with her mother tongue. The learning process was much easier when the incentive was her touch, her kisses and her rather perfect body. He knew how to say absolutely every body part you could kiss and you can just believe me when I say, he's kissed all of them.

The house was full, very full, but Soledad did notice someone she'd never seen before. She stood out in the crowd because one, she was not a wolf-girl and two, because her hazel-green eyes were striking.

"Maribel, this is my sister Soledad," Freddie said putting his arm out. The girl, no older than sixteen, walked forward, placing herself in the crook of his arm as if she did it every day and smiling up at Soli nervously.

Maribel Castillo, fifteen and madly in love, had heard a lot about Soledad, Freddie's beloved sister. She had met Freddie just two weeks ago, but he had talked about Soli so much she felt almost as if they had met, though she was shy all the same.

"Hello," Maribel said with a thick Spanish accent.

"Soledad, this is…my Maribel." He said her name as if it were a song and his chest swelled as he pointed to her. Soli knew without being told he had imprinted. Maribel had taken a leap, a huge leap of faith following him here, but it was things like that, the magical way he said her name, that proved she had been right.

"Oh my God! Freddie, why didn't you call me," Soli screamed pulling him into a hug. Randy shook his hand, and then hers, not entirely sure hugs were appropriate for the imprint of your imprint's brother.

"Can we talk about it later?" He asked her in Spanish and she nodded, making room for every wolf-girl present to welcome him home and meet his girl.

'She's young' Randy signed to her, knowing that because of the size of the room and his sensitive hearing Freddie would hear no matter how low he spoke. They signed a lot now, with little Eli in their lives. Soli had always been close to Mark and Jordan but now that they had their hands full with three English bulldogs (T, Solace and Call) and a seven-soon-to-be-eight-year old, Soli spent a lot more time there.

'I know' she responded with a worried face. Melody who was not trying to watch in on their conversation responded nonetheless, snapping her fingers twice to get their attention before posing a very important question.

'So where are her parents?'

'Good question' Soli and Randy signed in unison, laughing and catching the attention of Freddie; they all dropped their hands to a resting position a bit guiltily.

Jordan and Mark arrived bearing presents and holding one of Eli's hands each. He was a hyperactive boy and Mark and Jordan often had to hold him to keep him from flying wild in the streets. As soon as they were safely inside, he shot out of their hands and headed to Maribel who he inspected closely, she didn't seem to mind. She knelt down so she was at face level with him and he smiled, the widest and most adorable half toothless grin Maribel had ever seen.

"Hello," she said softly and he shot back to Jordan.

"Da da da!" Eli, who was not entirely deaf, was learning how to speak, it was a slow and hard process, but he had at this point found names to distinguish his fathers. Jordan was "Da" and Mark was "Pa".

'Yes Eli?' Jordan signed down at him.

"Up," Eli commanded and Jordan scooped him up, giving an apologetic look to Tara who had been in the middle of a conversation about teaching children how to read, something Eli was having a difficult time with.

'What's up?' Mark signed, pinching Eli's cheeks once; they were perpetually rosy against his pale skin and therefore irresistible.

'Beautiful' he answered, pointing to Maribel.

"Well, we got a straight one," Mark joked, moving in close to place two giant kisses on either side of Eli's round cheeks. Tara laughed, leaning forward so Eli could trace a gentle finger along Hope's cheek.

"Yeah, definitely straight," Jordan agreed, kissing Mark casually. They had been together for years, but the slightly muted explosion he felt in his chest every time they kissed was still phenomenal.

Kim and Annabelle arrived late, Brady carrying in a special cake made just for Soli by the master homemaker, Jared; it was shaped like a black stiletto and made Soli finally release the tears of joy she had been holding in since Tara arrived. After smelling Freddie, Brady pulled Annabelle in instinctively and refused to leave her side. Brady had accepted Freddie and Annabell's kiss as a one time thing because he was leaving, but his return was worrisome to say the least.

"My imprint, Maribel," Freddie presented her to Annabelle, smiling up at Brady as he held onto her. Annabelle was beautiful, she had grown more beautiful as the years had gone by but Freddie only saw his Maribel.

"Oh! Great, that's awesome," Brady said more than enthusiastically. No matter how many times Annabelle assured him her world was not big enough for another man, Brady grew self-conscious when he thought of Freddie. He wouldn't want to compete with Freddie's rugged good looks and it seems he wouldn't have to.

"How old are you?" Brady asked conversationally beaming so widely Annie chuckled.

"I'm fifteen," Maribel said loudly, making sure those around her, who were all listening in could hear.

"Oh, yeah that's cool," Brady said clumsily.

"We have runs away here," Maribel said with accented, slightly awkward English.

"What?" Soli spat from the kitchen where she was standing with Randy.

"Okay, well since you'll all find out soon anyways…we've come here without the permission of her family," Fredrico said simply.

"You kidnapped her?" Claire asked nervously, scratching the back of her neck.

"Technically…yes," Freddie sighed, and the room grew silent, before Mark could no longer hold it in and he laughed.

The facts were these: Freddie Call, returned to Ecuador where he was studying biology, which he intended to use as a starting point for his career in medicine, when he saw her. The world shifted, the sun dimmed, and all of that dramatic imprint stuff. She was his world and she was just as enthralled with him as he was with her. This would have of course been the cause of celebration for Freddie, but that happiness was shot down when he realized just how little he could see her.

It wasn't only his schedule, which he would put off without a second look for her, but her family. She was the only child of a media-mogul, the kind with money but enemies and her life wasn't always completely safe. He used this and only this as an excuse to sweep her away. Though, in truth, it was mostly because he could not bear not being with her every moment of the day. It was the rashest decision he'd ever made in his life. Unlike Soli, Fredrico was extremely even tempered and every move he ever made was measured, but when it came to imprints, there was just no way to think logically.

"It's not funny!" Soli howled at Mark who was still laughing, happy that Freddie was no longer in his pack so he did not have to deal with the problems this kidnapping would ultimately bring. In fact as of the moment Mark was in the midst of retiring. It was difficult, the pack was small now; just himself, Brady, Seth, Krys, Taylor, Randy, Melody and Levi. Seth would for obvious reasons be the best choice of Alpha but he was staunchly opposed to stepping up, he did not want the mantle of power and when Mark really thought about it, he agreed that it just didn't fit. Freddie's return lightened his dark mood as of late, because Freddie, as Mark knew well, would suit the position perfectly…when he wasn't kidnapping teenage girls, that is.

"It sorta is," Kim agreed, looking at the girl closely. She was obviously healthy and happy, so she had come willingly and Kim didn't need to know the reasons why, she knew Freddie well enough to trust his judgment.

"Can we talk about this tonight?" Freddie asked lovingly, pulling his sister into yet another warm hug. They were back together and she didn't argue; she wanted him around no matter what act of felony abduction he had committed.

"She can stay in your other guest room, right?" Freddie asked with concerned eyes.

"Not with you?" Soli asked in a whisper.

"We're not at that stage in the relationship," Freddie answered.

"Well at least that's something," Soli nodded. She of all people knew the importance of not rushing into bed, this was something that five years ago she would not have been able to fathom but every heated kiss that went unanswered, every dream and feeling of longing that went unfulfilled just made the event, the first time they were together and every time after, that much better.

Around three, the men started to drift in, hungry and informed by their wives and imprints that there were still piles of food still left to devour.

Eli jumped from Jordan to Taylor resting his head on his godfather's shoulders. Jared sidled in next to his wife, smiling warmly at Brady before giving his beloved daughter a kiss that landed half on her nose half on the cheek.

Phil cradled his youngest daughter in his arms as he escorted his older two through the door. He had adopted Ava and Chloe, Tara's children from her previous partner, weeks after their marriage papers were signed and it was one of his proudest days. Tara had shared with him completely her biggest joy, her children, which he loved as if they were his own.

Michael came with Levi, who went to Melody's side holding her tight for a moment before Eli, who was infamously a people hopper, begged to be held. He hopped again seconds later when David, his silly uncle walked through the door.

Collin, who had come with Seth and Krys, attached himself to his Helen, who leaned into him as she watched the crowd. It was a tight squeeze and warm, with the massive block sized men that filled the rooms and hallways they had all lived in at one point in time.

"Hey Seth, look the dent in the cabinet is still here from that time you—"

"Shut it Brady or I'm going to have to tell Annie about Olympia Music Fest circa 2011," Seth warned from his spot in the living room where he stood close to his imprint Jessy. The stories, the laughter, just the sight of the pack here, with her, for her, filled Soli's heart till she felt she might burst.

She got many kisses and more hugs throughout the night but by the time the sun was setting both she and Randy were craving the alone time they so desperately needed.

"I can't wait to get you out of that dress," Randy said truthfully in her ear. The passion behind it made her knees weak.

"Is your mom going to let you stay tonight?" She asked with a pout, loud enough for Helen to overhear from the other side of the table.

"Happy birthday, Soli," Helen said with a wink, turning back to Rachel who she was previously talking to.

"How can we get everyone out of here quicker?" Soli only half joked as he ran his hand casually down her side, his thumbs grazing the outside of her breast making her gasp.

"I don't know, but maybe if I took this off of you they'd get the hint," Randy said, very lightly lifting the bottom corner of her skirt. His hot hand brushing the back of her knees sent a spot of longing so deep in her body; she had to use him for support.

"Presents," Melody announced shooting them an understanding look as she carried the first one to Soli. Soli ripped through them, making sure to give each present the appropriate 'oohs' and 'ahs' before she moved on, but it was hard with Randy sitting next to her so warm and perfect. Her life, her soul, her love; the best present she'd ever received, she wanted him now, naked…maybe with a bow.

He watched her as she undid every ribbon carefully or as she joyously ripped off every wrapping; she was a goddess. He had always known she was beautiful, this was something that was apparent to him even when she was a baby. When he first saw her, as a tiny infant in her mother's arms, he remembered examining each little finger and toe in complete awe, she was the first thing in his short life to amaze him.

When she just three, though appearing about six in human years, and he was seven, he was blown away by her beauty as she mischievously shook presents around the Christmas tree. And every day now, as if by magic, he noticed something more beautiful about her than it had been before.

When she got to his present she paused, moving things around her out of the way so she could lay the package flat and tear it open with both hands. A dress. A wedding dress.

They were going to college before they started a family but she had agree and he was holding her to it, that she would marry him on his eighteenth birthday which was just seven months away. She had looked at this dress countless times online, the picture she took with her cell phone was a constant kick-back when she was bored. It wasn't what Randy would have chosen for her, it was in his opinion too plain for a women of such outstanding beauty, but she loved it and he had to save, a lot, to get it for her. He worked part time with Jared the whole summer, moving heavy construction material to buy it: long white, a snug size two.

"Randy!" She screamed, launching herself off the chair and into his arms.

"So can we set a date already?" He asked sweetly and she nodded through tears, allowing him to lift her the full foot height difference.

"Yes," she breathed. There was no reason to wait, they had been destined for each other, she couldn't and didn't want to fight it anymore.

And that's all folks, that is the tale of Randy and Soli. You can condense it simply to this: Once upon a time there lived a boy who loved a girl, a wild girl, who drove him crazy but loved him just the same. She didn't know how to say it, but she knew how to show it. It wasn't always easy, but they lived happily ever after…


End file.
